Drew Barrymore Believes That Parents Are ‘Coddling’ Children Now

Drew Barrymore is the mother to daughters Frankie, 8, and Olive, 10. In a recent podcast interview, she opened up about how she has often felt like a failure as a parent and why she believes too many parents “coddle” their children these days.

She joked that when she was a kid, parents would leave their children “in the driveway for three hours eating rocks and nobody cared.” Now, especially with social media, the idea of a “perfect parent” is one that many people strive for but ultimately can never reach.

Drew Barrymore opens up about parenting struggles

BIG MIRACLE, Drew Barrymore, 2012. Ph: Darren Michaels/©Universal Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection

Drew admitted, “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. I did not have the blueprint and I felt like a failure a lot. I felt really overwhelmed and like, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing… I don’t know what I’m doing and I’m gonna have to learn on the job.'”

RELATED: Drew Barrymore Opens Up About How Her Childhood Influenced Her Parenting

DONNIE DARKO, Drew Barrymore, 2001. © Newmarket Releasing /Courtesy Everett Collection

She said “and now we’re like, helicopter parenting and coddling and, you know, watching everything.” While Drew said that many people have a “parenting instinct,” she believes she did not. Drew wishes that more parents would admit that they have no idea what they are doing.

BLENDED, from left: Drew Barrymore, Alyvia Alyn Lind, 2014. /©Warner Bros. Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection

With the girls being older, Drew said that now she has the swing of things. She explained, “It’s funny, I was so unforgiving of myself when my kids were younger and now that they’re almost – Frankie’s almost 9 and Olive’s like 10, it’s shifted into something very different, and I’m having the best time ever. I have learned boundaries.”