Jennifer Lopez knows the struggle of parenting teenagers is real.
The actor and singer opened up about what it’s like raising her 15-year-old twins, Emme and Max, during an appearance on “The View” last week.
Lopez said that this stage of parenthood has given her a new appreciation for her own mother, Guadalupe Rodríguez, who sometimes had to take the role of “the bad guy” as a parent.
“You have to be, they need that,” Lopez said. “There is a time, and I think it’s in those teenage years... and you’re just like, ‘Oh, this is what [my mother] was talking about.’”
“This is the time when your kids don’t want to talk to you, and they’re kind of individuating from you and it’s all necessary,” she continued. “And intellectually, I understand it ― but my heart, my heart hurts.”
Lopez shares Emme and Max with ex-husband singer Marc Anthony. During her appearance on “The View,” she also discussed what it’s been like having a blended family and witnessing her husband, Ben Affleck, as a father. Affleck shares son Samuel, 11, and daughters Violet, 17, and Seraphina, 14, with his ex-wife, actor Jennifer Garner.
“He’s an amazing dad, it brings tears to my eyes,” Lopez said of Affleck. “He is honestly the best dad I’ve ever seen.”
Lopez celebrated Max and Emme’s birthday with a sweet video montage on Instagram in February. The clip showed Lopez with the twins throughout the years, with Affleck making appearances in parts of the video.
“Happy birthday to my beautiful, brilliant coconuts,” Lopez wrote in the caption of the post. “I am so proud of you both in every single way. You bring so much joy and happiness to my heart and soul. I love you beyond forever.”