Gwyneth Paltrow is not excited about the prospect of becoming an empty nester once her son Moses leaves the family home for college this fall.
The Goop founder, 51, spoke with The Sunday Times about why she's not looking forward to her 17-year-old, the youngest in her family, leaving home along with her stepson Brody, husband Brad Falchuk's son.
She told the publication: "I've been so defined and so fulfilled by motherhood. I don't even know how to articulate it. It's like the guiding force. It's what I return to."
She explained that she preferred to sacrifice an extensive social life in order to get more time to spend with Moses before he leaves, a policy she'd originally also extended to 19-year-old Apple, who left home in 2022 for New York.
"I never really go anywhere or do anything because I want to be around my kids while they live at home. You know, it's like, 'Oh, we're doing a girls' weekend here and there,' and I'm like, '[expletive] no, I have 88 days left of Moses living [with me]."
"It's been basically 20 years of me being beholden to a school calendar – so what will that feel like to not have that?" she mused, adding that the idea of him leaving brought "incredible sadness" to mind.
"On the one hand, incredible sadness. A deep sense of impending grief," Gwyneth shared. "On the other hand, this is exactly what should be happening."
"Your kids are supposed to be young adults who can achieve and cope and make connections and be resilient. That's exactly what you want. And that means they leave the house."
SEE: Rob Lowe's lookalike son celebrates birthday at star-studded bash with godmother Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth shares Moses and Apple with ex-husband Chris Martin, and is also a stepmother to her husband Brad Falchuk's two children. Although it seems like having a positive role model in a stepmother is par for the course in the Paltrow-Martin household.
Dakota Johnson, Chris' longtime girlfriend, spoke honestly about her connection with her boyfriend's two children in a recent interview with Bustle, simply saying: "I love those kids like my life depends on it. With all my heart," describing them as "extraordinarily talented people" later in the interview.
Earlier in the month, Gwyneth spoke at the Visionary Women's International Women's Day Summit about growing into being a good stepmom to her husband's children.
"I really like to talk about this because it's one of my biggest learnings as a human being," she told the crowd. "And my area of growth personally came from the initial difficult relationship I had with my stepkids and now they're like my kids."
She called the path to their strong present relationship "really tough," adding" "It's almost like you have to embody the spirit of the sun and just give and not expect anything back."
"I just learned to try to just keep shining like the sun and never keeping score."
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