Angelina Jolie Shares Rare Details About Raising Her Teenage Kids

She also revealed the sweet treat they gave her on Mother’s Day

• In a new interview with Hello! magazine, Angelina Jolie reveals sweet details about how her children make her feel special and what it’s like being a mother to growing teenagers.
• She describes raising teens as a “fun moment where I’m rediscovering myself.”
• Jolie shares her six kids—Maddox, 18, Pax, 15, Zahara, 14, Shiloh, 13, and Vivienne and Knox, 11—with ex-husband Brad Pitt.

In a new interview with Hello! magazine, Angelina Jolie gave a rare look at the intimate moments of her life as a mom to six kids who are becoming independent teenagers. Watching her children, who range from 11 to 18 years old, mature is both wistful and “fun” for the actress and activist.

“When your children are little you feel more ‘mummy,'” she explained. “When they are teenagers you start to remember yourself as a teenager. You see them going to punk clubs and you wonder why you can’t go. I’m in this fun moment where I’m rediscovering myself.”

Jolie with four of her children—Knox, Zahara, Vivienne, and Shiloh—at Disney’s Dumbo premiere.

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin Getty Images

Jolie just dropped off her eldest son, Maddox Jolie-Pitt, at college in South Korea last month. She told students and fellow parents at the time that she was “trying not to cry” as he marked a major milestone.

The multihyphenate director and producer is a busy woman, but her kids step in to help her feel pampered. “On Mother’s Day my children make me breakfast and pick me flowers—they treat me like a lady,” she said.

Jolie, who is the face of Guerlain, previously told BAZAAR.com that “kindness” is the main value she aims to teach her children. “They’re very strong individuals, they are very open-minded and very kind,” she said. “I try to lead by example and to be as kind and gracious, and loving and tolerant, as my mother was. But also, when there’s a fight that needs to be had, I want them feel they have the strength. So, I hope they are learning to be kind, with a little bit of fight within them.”