Jennifer Garner says she and ex Ben Affleck both have to be 'mom and dad' while co-parenting their three children

Jennifer Garner opened up about the challenges of co-parenting her three children with ex-husband Ben Affleck. 

The Alias star, 53, candidly discussed raising Violet, 20, Fin, 17, and Samuel, 13, in separate households on Tuesday's episode of Bustle's One Nightstand YouTube series. 

Garner said that when the kids are with her, she has to 'become mom and dad' and added that there is a 'loss' that comes with co-parenting.

Addressing how she finds the balance in raising her children with a 'conscientious upbringing' and 'appreciation,' Garner told host Charlotte Owen that she feels she provides 'a bit of both.' 

'And I think my kids’ dad does too. Especially when your kids grow up in two separate households, I become mom and dad and he becomes dad and mom.'

'You kind of can't help it, right? Because you don't have the benefit of both sides of the yin and yang being in the same house,' she added.

'There's a little bit of loss in that, but there’s also something gained in that,' the actress noted.

'You also just learn. It's made me let go and not focus so much on bringing up,' she added.

Garner and Affleck were wed from 2005 until 2018.

Last month Garner talked about how 'hard' the split was in an interview with Marie Claire UK. 

'You have to be smart about what you can and can't handle, and I could not handle what was out there,' she said.

'The fact of it is what was hard. The actual breaking up of a family is what was hard. Losing a true partnership and friendship is what was hard.'

And she made it clear she has always put her children first even though she has a big Hollywood career.

'It never felt like a sacrifice. It was really hard to go to work and it definitely shaped the jobs I chose, in a big way,' she said.

Gushing about her children, Garner also said how she is 'so proud of how they walk through the world, and proud of them for trying hard.'

But the star admitted it is 'the hardest thing' navigating the spotlight being on her family.

She said: 'Not hard in the grand scheme of what is hard in the world, but tricky for me and tricky for my family.'

The star also recently talked about their family being plunged into media scrutiny when Affleck reunited with ex-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez in 2021.

He went on to marry Lopez in 2022 but she filed for divorce two years later.

Addressing her decision to move away from her famously private stance regarding her ex-husband, Garner told Flaunt magazine that she hopes to help other women by sharing her perspective.

'Time has passed, and other women are going through really hard seasons in their lives, and I think it's helpful to know that time will go on and you will get to the other side,' she said.

'That's really all it's about. I was in the middle of something for a really long time, and it didn't make sense.'

'There was no way to talk about it, and it's certainly not my place to talk about him or his experience or anything he's gone through, or my children or their experience,' she added.

'But I can say that I feel lighter and happier and more myself [than I have] in a really long time, and I think that's important to know because I really felt like, "Oh my gosh, has this family shake up — has it changed me forever?"'

'When you're many years into something, you think, "I don't know how it's gonna pass."'

Elsewhere in the candid sit-down, Garner clarified that a ring she was wearing was not an engagement ring, despite her steady seven year romance with businessman John Miller.