Why Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck’s Kids Call Her ‘The Dragon’
Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck seemed like the perfect Hollywood couple. They were married for over a decade before calling it quits, and they have three kids together. Garner and Affleck now live close to each other so Affleck can see his three children often. And it turns out that the famous parents have very different parenting styles. Here’s what Garner said about her kids calling her “the dragon.”
Jennifer Garner said she and Ben Affleck’s kids call her ‘the dragon’ because of her strictness
Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck are no longer married but remain friendly post-divorce. The couple has three kids: Violet, 18, Fin, 15, and Samuel, 12. While Ben Affleck’s current marital struggles with Jennifer Lopez have dominated the headlines, he’s often seen spending time with his children in Los Angeles.
Affleck might be a fun parent compared to Garner. In 2020, while speaking on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Garner explained that her kids call her “the dragon” because of her strict rules.
“If you’re like me, I kill the fun,” Garner admitted. “I am so lame. They call me the dragon; they have all these names for me.”
Because Garner always tells her kids “no,” she says that one day a year, she “says yes” to any request. She calls it “Yes Day.”
“Yes. We want pizza with ice cream for breakfast, or with toothpaste. Yeah,” she laughed. “I do it. Yes, I have for years.”
Garner noted that her kids have different ideas of what “Yes Day” entails because of their age differences. “They have to agree, because it’s just one day,” she explained. “So, the one thing that they can agree on is basically making an a** out of me.”
Ben Affleck said it was ‘hard and stressful’ to parent post-divorce
Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck continue to put their kids first in their lives post-divorce. The exes remain friendly and regularly see each other in 2024, with Affleck frequently stopping by Garner’s home. However, transitioning from married to divorced parents wasn’t easy for Affleck. Affleck told People that being a divorced, working dad presented challenges.
“So, I’m trying to fit a whole week of dad into three and a half days, [it’s] hard and stressful,” he said in 2021. “My standards really changed. I don’t want to go travel and do something if it’s not really rewarding and meaningful. Yeah, I have to work. The kids know I have to work. Their mom has to work. They understand that. But it’s not like I’m some martyr for my kids. I get more out of it than anything else.”
Despite the challenges, Affleck maintains that Garner is a fantastic mother. “Jen is a superhero mom,” he said in 2016, a year after their split and two years before finalizing their divorce. “She is an amazing mother and I’m really lucky to have her as a partner to co-parent these kids with. We try our best, we put them first and that’s what we do.”
Jennifer Garner wants her ex-husband to be ‘happy and healthy’ for the kids despite marital woes
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez continue to dominate the media with divorce rumors. According to insiders, Lopez and Affleck have had a rocky marriage for most of 2024. Affleck reportedly confides in Jennifer Garner regarding his marital woes. Some sources claim that Garner is happy to help Affleck, but other sources claim it’s become too painful for her.
A source told People that Garner “wants the best” for Affleck, no matter the outcome of his marriage.
“She wants him happy and healthy so he can be the best dad possible,” the source explained. The insider added that Garner “likes that [Lopez] lives a healthy lifestyle and supports Ben’s sobriety. Jen wants that for Ben.”
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