Blake Lively Compares Parenting to ‘Living With a Drug Addict’
Blake Lively seems to be like any other parent in the privacy of her home. Although the actor and fashion icon dazzles on the red carpet, raising her three daughters with husband Ryan Reynolds has a way of snapping her back to reality. Even while shielding her children from the spotlight whenever possible, Lively has a history of keeping it real when explaining the lessons she’s learned about parenting.
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds enjoy a relatively private family life
As two A-list celebrities, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have little choice about being in front of the camera. But the power couple also likes to set boundaries for the family. Instead of living a Hollywood lifestyle, Lively and Reynolds bought a house in Pound Ridge, New York, in 2012, the year they were married.
Glimpses into their home have also been rare since they welcomed their first daughter, James, in December 2014. According to PopSugar, the public didn’t get a look at James until she neared her second birthday, appearing in her father’s arms as he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in December 2016. Lively was also there holding newborn Inez, whose name wasn’t even known to the public at the time.
Lively and Reynolds similarly kept the name of their third child on the down-low. Lively gave birth to daughter number three on October 16, 2019, and the public was still in the dark about the child’s name the following summer.
It was pop superstar Taylor Swift — a close friend of the couple — who dropped the moniker in her song “Betty” on her 2020 album, Folklore.
Noticing the names “James” and “Inez” were also in the song, fans quickly realized Lively and Reynolds were letting Swift announce Betty’s name in the coolest way possible. James’ voice can also be heard on “Gorgeous” from Swift’s 2017 album, Reputation.
Blake Lively admits she makes parenting up as she goes
Despite her fame, Blake Lively sounds like a typical mom when she’s in family mode. Recognizing that being the perfect mom is not feasible, Lively seems to face the challenges as they come.
“It’s like every moment you’re figuring out what the heck you’re doing,” she told People in 2017. Lively added that she’s constantly trying to decide whether she should be more strict or more emotional — an authentic dilemma many parents can recognize.
Though Lively and Reynolds enjoy their privacy, they have fun joking about parenthood during interviews. Describing the ups and downs of parenthood to the Los Angeles Times, Lively said, “It might be like living with a drug addict.” But the Gossip Girl alum was quick to point out how much she loves being a mother. “I’d be an 80-year-old woman with a baby if I could.”
Lively has also been candid about what it’s like to bounce back physically from childbirth. “Turns out you can’t lose the 61 lbs you gained during pregnancy by just scrolling through Instagram and wondering why you don’t look like all the bikini models,” she joked on Instagram.
Although Lively shed the extra pounds with a trainer’s help, she admitted putting on the weight was much easier than taking it off.
The actor and mother delivered another stunning Met Gala look
Lively recently showed off as co-host of the 2022 Met Gala, where she has regularly been a standout over the years. For the “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” theme linked to the Gilded Age, Lively once again wore Versace to match her creative spark. Paying tribute to the Statue of Liberty, the actor and mother turned up in a gorgeous gown with a surprise twist. What began as a stylish pink-bronze number transformed into a dazzling green stunner with an extended train that made her look like Lady Liberty on the way up the red-carpeted staircase.
While the look created a buzz, it also appears to be a symbolic gesture showcasing Lively’s passions. Though the phrase “Gilded Age” wasn’t coined until the early 1900s, it refers to the last few decades of the 1800s, when waves of immigrants led to widespread economic growth. Contemporary immigration has also been a critical issue for Lively and Reynolds, who teamed with the Young Center in 2019 to launch the Waymaker Fund for Immigrant Children’s Rights. “Over the last few years, our perspective has grown, and we’ve realized we have to do everything possible to foster more compassion and empathy in this world,” the couple said in a statement.
Now that she’s settled into life with three daughters, Lively is also jumping headlong back into her acting career. According to IMDb, Lively is slated to film the sci-fi thriller Proxy and the romantic drama The Making Of, also starring Diane Keaton and Richard Gere. In addition, Deadline recently confirmed Lively will reunite with Anna Kendrick for a sequel to A Simple Favor, the 2018 comedy/thriller from Bridesmaids director Paul Feig.
