Welcome to So Mini Ways, Yahoo Life’s parenting collection on the thrill and challenges of childrearing.
When it comes to back-to-school season, Gossip Girl alum and mother of two Leighton Meester is hopeful and enthusiastic about what the approaching months might carry.
“Back-to-school is always a fresh start,” she tells Yahoo Life. “It’s when I reimagine what the rest of the year is going to be. I remember every year being like, ‘OK, what am I going to be like? Who are my friends going to be? What am I going to wear?’ You get to reinvent yourself. Now, with kids, it’s such an exciting time, because we’ve just had this really awesome, but exhausting summer, and they get to go and see all their friends again.”
While the actress acknowledges that her 8-year-old Arlo doubtless “has all the same anxieties that everyone else does,” she’s excited for her daughter’s subsequent educational chapter. “I know she loves reading, and she loves her teacher, she loves her friends, so it’s wonderful,” says Meester, who’s married to actor Adam Brody.
She additionally enjoys packing her daughter’s lunch day-after-day, because it’s a chance to get inventive and switch a meal right into a “work of art.” At the same time, Meester recognizes that she is in “an amazing position” as a father or mother who doesn’t have to take into consideration whether or not she will pack Arlo’s lunches with nutritious meals. “That’s an issue that so many people struggle with,” she notes. “I’m just reminded every day how lucky I am.” And it’s an impetus for partnering with GoGo squeeZ to refill lunch packing containers at North Valley Caring Services Food Pantry in Los Angeles County and offering up to 250,000 meals to households by a donation to Feeding America, the most important starvation aid group within the United States.
“Feeding America is an organization I’ve been working with for quite a few years, and so I’m just always on board with their programs and everything that they do, and GoGo squeeZ is being very generous with this donation,” says Meester. “It’s really wonderful.”
Growing up experiencing meals insecurity herself is one in all many causes Meester is so keen about working with Feeding America. “We relied on food stamps and welfare,” remembers the actress. “A lot of the time, there would be money at the beginning of the month and not so much at the end. So … we would have to pick and choose, and I absolutely relate to having to put things back on the shelf or not necessarily having enough for either dinner or breakfast or your lunch [and] relying on school lunch programs and after-school lunch programs. And just feeling hungry.”
Now that Meester has kids of her personal, she will’t assist however discover simply how devastating starvation might be to youngsters’ improvement or enjoyable time. “When [my kids] are hungry, even a bit of bit, that is the primary field that I test off. ‘Here, have a snack,’ and everything is great again,” she says. “As a parent, it’s such a basic need to be able to feed your child, whether it’s snacks or a full meal, and there are so many people in this country [who] can’t afford to put food on the table.”
Volunteering is a topic Meester says she talks about “quite often” with Arlo. “She’s not quite old enough to volunteer yet, but we live such an amazingly lucky life that we get to put food on the table, and I try to — as much as possible — volunteer and advocate for people who go hungry because it’s such a way of life for so many people,” explains the mom of two.
As her youngest is about to turn 3, Meester is noticing more and more just what “amazing people” her kids are — although, she jokes, she may be biased, given that she’s their mother, in spite of everything. She’s additionally loving watching their personalities blossom. “It’s fascinating to see completely different human beings,” says the proud mother. “They’re interested in different things. It makes me even more sure we’re born the way we are.”
When it comes to her personal evolution, Meester is proudly shifting past the mother guilt she used to deal with when juggling her profession and parenthood. “I was like, ‘Well, I’m not with them when I’m working and acting,’” she remembers. “Sometimes you don’t see your kids for a couple of days, if not more, at a time.”
Now, she’s embracing the truth that pursuing her skilled desires sends an necessary message to her kids. “One of the things that’s helpful to learn for me is that my kids should see me be independent, should see me work and fulfill my own dreams and what I want to do with my life — that’s not just all being a mom,” she notes. “I do think that that’s an amazing role to play for a lot of people, but I do really think that they appreciate seeing me out doing what I love to do.”
She provides, “They go with the flow. And they’re proud of me. It’s just what it is. And I’m proud of that.”
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