Charlize Theron Credits Her Mom With Co-Parenting Her Kids And It's The Sweetest

Charlize Theron would feel “pretty alone” without her mom

Charlize Theron recently opened up about her experiences co-parenting two kids with her mom, and her thoughts on motherhood are fantastic. While Theron is mostly known for her acting career and her philanthropy work to end HIV/AIDS, she’s also a badass mom who isn’t scared to ask for help with her kiddos.

The 42-year-old South African and American actress adopted her two kids Jackson, six, and August, two but co-parents with her mom, Gerda Maritz. “I knew that I would have to have my mom help me if I was going to do this as a single parent. To not acknowledge her in co-parenting my children would be a lie,” Theron told her friend Chelsea Handler for a feature in ELLE. “I’m so lucky to have that. I would feel pretty alone if I didn’t have a partner in crime in all of this.”

She also shared how much Maritz loves being a grandma. Theron explained: “She has jokingly said, ‘Being a grandparent is what I was born to do.’ I was like, ‘Yo, bitch! What about me? Was it not to raise me? I’m your kid!'”

Theron also talks about her new movie, Tully, in which Theron plays an exhausted, pregnant mom of two. The preview promises the film will be an honest look at moms who do too much with not nearly enough help. Which, like all moms, Theron can also relate to in her own way.

“In the beginning, I wanted to do it all and didn’t reach out for as much help as I actually needed,” she said. “I felt, If I don’t do all of this, then maybe I am a bad parent.” Thankfully, when she adopted her second child, she had learned that no mom can do it all on their own. “The second time, I realized I am happier and my kids are happier if I ask for more help. People think I have a staff of 40, but I don’t,” Theron shared. “I have one nanny and my mom up the street and amazing friends and family. I call them my village.”

She’s known for not tolerating bullshit, so it’s no surprise that she doesn’t plan on taking it from strangers. “My oldest just started big school. She’s not even there a full year. So I’ve not gotten into the whole [judgy moms at] school thing yet,” Theron shared. “The good thing about me is, I’ve never given a shit about what people think. That’s the only quality I have that has probably helped me in being a mother.”

It’s always refreshing when a celebrity mom offers relatable, nitty-gritty tidbits about parenting, and Theron is no exception. Which, of course, is why we love her.

She’s completely honest about how being a mom is a pretty tough gig some days. “I have bad days. I make mistakes. Going through the tantrum stages when they’re such little assholes. And they choose the worst moments,” Theron explained. “But after six years of having my two nuggets, there’s not a day when I wish I hadn’t done this.”