Drew Barrymore’s Motherhood Quotes Over the Years

Finding her purpose! Drew Barrymore may be an A-list star, but her biggest achievements in life are her two daughters, Olive and Frankie.
“They’re my favorite people on the planet,” Barrymore told Entertainment Tonight in 2016, noting that she has become “such a better person” while being a mom. “I always love and try to live on the high road. I think you feel best when you behave or react or come from the ‘high road’ place. My kids have elevated that in a way for me that is indescribable.”
The Never Been Kissed star shares her two daughters with ex-husband Will Kopelman. The pair tied the knot in 2012, welcoming their first daughter, Olive, less than a year later. The former couple’s second daughter, Frankie, was born in 2014.
While the Santa Clarita Diet alum and Intern actor called it quits in 2016 and finalized their divorce in August 2018, they have made their two little ones their “first priority” as they work hard to coparent amicably.
“It really is about the tone you set, and you can talk until you’re blue in the face, but kids watch what you do every single day of your life, all day long, and that behavior and that example and that love and community and honesty is just, I think, what’s making everything feel safe for my kids,” Barrymore explained during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in February 2017. “And that’s really the intention I had as a parent — how do my kids have this incredible sense of, like, freedom inside their heart, because they know I’ve got them and their dad’s got them and the [rest of their family].”
She continued, “I got two families. I went from, like, zero to two and it’s a miracle and a blessing, and we do it in a way that I think a lot of other people are probably doing it too and sometimes, again, the road is different than what you tried to make it or what you expected and you just figure it out and figure it out with grace.”
While Olive and Frankie may be the E.T. star’s best gift, that doesn’t mean parenting them is always easy — especially when trying to balance parenthood and a career in Hollywood.
“People are like, ‘How do you balance?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t.’ I have to pick stuff. I have to stop doing stuff. I have to cut stuff out of my life. I always get in trouble for saying you can’t do it all,” Barrymore shared with E! News in 2018. “But it’s not that you can’t have it all. I just don’t think I can personally do it all at the same time.”
However, the Music and Lyrics actress finds beauty in the madness. “It’s so amazing ― after your kid is crying for 12 hours, you’ll start laughing and you love them even more. But the next day, the stupidest thing will throw you. Everything surprises you constantly,” she told Life & Style in 2015.
Scroll down to see more of Barrymore’s best quotes about motherhood:

Credit: Gregory Pace/Shutterstock
Drew Barrymore’s Best Quotes About Motherhood: ‘This Love Is Beyond Any Love You’ve Ever Known’
Finding her purpose! Drew Barrymore may be an A-list star, but her biggest achievements in life are her two daughters, Olive and Frankie.
“They’re my favorite people on the planet,” Barrymore told Entertainment Tonight in 2016, noting that she has become “such a better person” while being a mom. “I always love and try to live on the high road. I think you feel best when you behave or react or come from the ‘high road’ place. My kids have elevated that in a way for me that is indescribable.”
The Never Been Kissed star shares her two daughters with ex-husband Will Kopelman. The pair tied the knot in 2012, welcoming their first daughter, Olive, less than a year later. The former couple’s second daughter, Frankie, was born in 2014.
While the Santa Clarita Diet alum and Intern actor called it quits in 2016 and finalized their divorce in August 2018, they have made their two little ones their “first priority” as they work hard to coparent amicably.
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“It really is about the tone you set, and you can talk until you’re blue in the face, but kids watch what you do every single day of your life, all day long, and that behavior and that example and that love and community and honesty is just, I think, what’s making everything feel safe for my kids,” Barrymore explained during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in February 2017. “And that’s really the intention I had as a parent — how do my kids have this incredible sense of, like, freedom inside their heart, because they know I’ve got them and their dad’s got them and the [rest of their family].”
She continued, “I got two families. I went from, like, zero to two and it’s a miracle and a blessing, and we do it in a way that I think a lot of other people are probably doing it too and sometimes, again, the road is different than what you tried to make it or what you expected and you just figure it out and figure it out with grace.”
While Olive and Frankie may be the E.T. star’s best gift, that doesn’t mean parenting them is always easy — especially when trying to balance parenthood and a career in Hollywood.
“People are like, ‘How do you balance?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t.’ I have to pick stuff. I have to stop doing stuff. I have to cut stuff out of my life. I always get in trouble for saying you can’t do it all,” Barrymore shared with E! News in 2018. “But it’s not that you can’t have it all. I just don’t think I can personally do it all at the same time.”
However, the Music and Lyrics actress finds beauty in the madness. “It’s so amazing ― after your kid is crying for 12 hours, you’ll start laughing and you love them even more. But the next day, the stupidest thing will throw you. Everything surprises you constantly,” she told Life & Style in 2015.
Scroll down to see more of Barrymore’s best quotes about motherhood:

Credit: Matt Baron/Shutterstock
September 2012
“I can’t wait until I have my children,” Barrymore told Haute Living prior to giving birth to eldest daughter Olive. “I love the idea that they don’t have to do something that they have no interest in, that they can do something completely opposite if they want to. I will be so surprised if they don’t want to do something involving food or wine or art, but I’ll be OK with it. I just want to build fun, great things for my family.”

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December 2012
“I always commit,” Barrymore told Allure about her parenting style. “I want to be that kind of mother … I do everything in this life-or-death way. The only thing I’ve tried to get better at is starting to believe maybe it’s not life or death. But the [level of] commitment hasn’t changed or wavered.”

Credit: Sara Jaye Weiss/Shutterstock
January 2013
The Golden Globe nominee revealed that her favorite thing about parenting was how it makes you a “better person” every day.
“Every morning when I wake her up, the endgame is, ‘Can I get her to smile?’ And that puts me in a good mood. It’s definitely a different way to live — and a much better one,” she told Good Housekeeping.

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January 2014
The 50 First Dates star told ABC News that being a mother is the “best ride I’ve ever been on in my life.”

Credit: Charles Sykes/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
November 2015
Barrymore told the Associated Press that she will always be a “rock-solid, always be there for them” parent to her kids.
“I am unbreakably in love with them and will be every single day for the rest of my life no matter how nuts they drive me,” she explained.

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November 2015
The Ever After actress detailed the difficulties of being a mother of two.
“It’s like constantly playing mental chess on how to get something done in that moment, and I hope I’m doing it as gracefully as possible,” she told InStyle. “It’s so amazing ― after your kid is crying for 12 hours, you’ll start laughing and you love them even more. But the next day, the stupidest thing will throw you. Everything surprises you constantly.”

Credit: Kristin Callahan/ACE Pictures/Shutterstock
April 2016
“I always love and try to live on the high road. I think you feel best when you behave or react or come from the ‘high road’ place. My kids have elevated that in a way for me that is indescribable,” she said to Entertainment Tonight, noting that her kids are her “favorite people on the planet.”

Credit: Carlos Tischler/Shutterstock
February 2017
During an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, Barrymore explained that the “love and community and honesty” she has as a parent is what’s “making everything feel safe for my kids.”
She added, “That’s really the intention I had as a parent ― was how do my kids have this incredible sense of freedom inside their heart because they know I’ve got them, and their dad’s got them, and [the rest of their family’s got them],”

Credit: Charles Sykes/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
May 2018
“I think motherhood is just so humbling. You realize how ill-prepared we all are, how little we know,” the Never Been Kissed star gushed to E! News. “But this love is so beyond any love you’ve ever known that it just kicks in and all of the sudden you start scrambling for all the answers and to get in touch with your gut instinct.”

Credit: Christopher Smith/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
May 2018
Barrymore opened up about the challenges of balancing her career and parenting duties.
“People are like, ‘How do you balance?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t.’ I have to pick stuff. I have to stop doing stuff. I have to cut stuff out of my life. I always get in trouble for saying you can’t do it all,” the Music and Lyrics actress shared with E! News. “But it’s not that you can’t have it all. I just don’t think I can personally do it all at the same time. I’ve tried and I often come to the humbling fact that I cannot do it all at once. I can do almost everything throughout my whole life. I believe in myself, I have confidence.”

Credit: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
September 2021
During an episode of the “Armchair Podcast,” the Charlies Angels star told hosts Dax Shepard and Monica Padman that she is adamant about not “[letting her] kids on social media.”
“I want them to be kids … I’m like a f–king Doberman about them,” she said, noting that her two daughters “love social media” and “watch TikTok,” but she has a strict rule when it comes to putting their faces on the platform.
“They get in a bad mood when they realize they won’t be put on camera,” Barrymore said. “But they know good god damn well why, because I’m like, ‘I want you to be kids!’”

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January 2023
During an episode of the “Chicks in the Office” podcast, Barrymore confessed that she struggled early on as a parent. “All those parents who have it all together, and they’ve got hygiene and nutrition and schedules and boundaries, God bless you. I didn’t know any of that stuff when I had my kids,” she said, adding that she “did not have a blueprint” for how to raise children when she first became a mom.
The talk show host admitted that she “felt like a failure a lot” when her daughters were younger. “I felt really overwhelmed and like, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing … and I’m gonna have to learn on the job,'” she said. “It’s funny, I was so unforgiving of myself when my kids were younger and now … it’s shifted into something very different and I’m having the best time ever.”
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