Amanda Seyfried has a new project on Netflix that comes out Friday called Mank. She both produced and co-stars in it opposite Gary Oldman who plays the titular character, Herman āMankā Mankiewicz. Amanda was pregnant while filming the project, we know now because she surprised us all by announcing the birth of her second child, a son, in September. Amanda and husband Thomas Sadoski also have a three-year-old daughter and they all live on a farm in upstate New York with Amandaās mom. Amanda has called her mom a āthird parentā and praised her help. With the pandemic, and her momās help, Amanda was able not only to tend to her farm but pick up a few new hobbies. That is, until baby two arrived and now Amanda doesnāt have time for anything that isnāt kid related.
On Life on her New York farm: I am unable to stand by and do nothing. During my pregnancy, I discovered new passions. I learned crochet, embroidery, sewing ā¦ I even got into the quilting technique to make quilts. On the other hand since our second baby is here, I donāt have a second of my own. Being a mom has changed all of my priorities.
On life with two young kids: There are magical moments between them. Everyone warned me, but having two kids has nothing to do with one (laughs). Itās great being a mother, but Iām just starting to learn the art of juggling with two toddlers. Living on a farm also has advantages like nature and anonymity, but with two children everything changes. Before, I took care of the morning chores with the animals. There, it is much more complicated with two young children. And you have to watch the chickens and ducks, that they are not too close to them (laughs). I expected the responsibilities of becoming a mother, but added to that are the lives of the animals that need us.
Iāve said this before, but I feel so much for parents of young kids during this pandemic. I donāt know how theyāre doing it. Iām stuck at home with kids, but theyāre teenagers who are perfectly capable of feeding and entertaining themselves. Heck, they chip in with chores and cooking and such. If I had a toddler looking to me to entertain it 10 hours a day, man, Iād be a basket case. I imagine between the farm, her daughter and a baby, Amanda is having trouble finding a few moments for herself. Now she has work to promote on top of it, but it could be nice to discuss something other than diapers, who’s hungry and “how did that mess get there?” The imagery of her last few sentences made me giggle, though. Iām picturing what was supposed to be a bucolic farm scene of children and poultry in harmony but ended up erupting into the Fowl-Toddler Hungry Games.
As for the skills Amanda acquired before her time evaporated – brava. I already know how to sew, and I donāt know if Iāve so much as threaded a needle during the pandemic. She mastered quilting? Good lord! Amanda ran a farm, finished producing a film, learned quilting techniques, embroidery and crocheting, raised a three-year-old and grew and birthed a baby all during quarantine. Huh. Once this is over, and the topic of conversation is āHow did you spend quarantine?”, I’m starting to worry that āI watched crap TV and ate my body weight in M & Māsā isnāt going play that well.
Photo credit: Instagram
I”m with you Hecate. I hope I’m never asked the question about what I did during the quarantine as it’s similar – watched crap tv and ate my way to an extra 20. Kudos to Amanda and her family.
Same! While some people are learning to paint and plowing through books during the pandemic, I learned what ātaekook ā was. Lol
My youngest is 8 and this year is hella tough and I wish that I could go through all of this for her. She hasnāt spent time with another eight-year-old since July and that was just to play dates that I capitulated and allowed to happen and luckily we got away with it ,but other than that itās just been really brutal.
Amanda sounds very healthy, mentally and physically. I am happy for her -she deserves it.
Hecate eating her body weight in M&M’s sounds very relatable. My daughters between them have a 3 year old, 2 year old, 1 year old, and a 3 month old, and yes, they both are working from home at demanding jobs. I’m helping out, but it’s VERY DIFFICULT for them both, especially for the infant’s mama, who’s sleep deprived. Despite women’s liberation, women still carry the vast burden of childcare.
Crap tv and 15 pounds waving from here!
I mean, to be truthful some of it was really actually good tv, but did I ever feel energized or accomplished after watching it? No, and thanks no thanks Netflix for automatically loading episodes and being actively antagonistic stopping binge watching. I peeled off 5 five pounds and have a breaking addiction relationship with Netflix now, which is too bad.
Iām here for the pictures of Finn.
Yes! I’m so glad she didn’t stop posting pictures of him after the baby.
Also, she put my quarantine activities to shame.
Yep! He looks a lot like my Aussie.
i agree with you, its tough with young kids but its also been a great distraction. I have a 4 and 1 year old. you just cant be sad with them or have time to think about the awfulness of the situation so there is no sitting around overthinking everything.
We were locked down for 16 weeks with no childcare back in March where i am and it was tough to juggle the kids and working from home but its just day by day. im grateful that i got a lot of extra time to spend with them that i normally wouldnt have been able to. although by the time childcare reopened in July i was just exhausted so fair play to Amanda for doing all of that
Mom of three with the youngest just hitting the terrible twos. The pandemic has been HARD. I havenāt had any childcare help in almost a year. Love my kids, but this has been beyond exhausting for me and my husband.
I have a Terrible Two and a First Grader I have opted to keep at home whose teachers act like they teach college students. At least I don’t have a job.
Mom of a 6 year old and a three year old here… and this pandemic has been hard. I feel like I canāt get any time to myself. At least during the summer we could go outside but now that itās cold, well things feel suffocating again.
We went into lockdown in mid March so all of a sudden no daycare for my three years old daughter. I stayed at home with her while my partner continued going to his small law firm office. The sudden loss of her daily routine and real life access to her friends hit her hard. When playgrounds were closed a couple of days later, there was no end to the tears. We managed less than a week in lockdown before she drew on the wall in her room š
Adding to the fun, our second daughter was born in mid April. My partner had to go back to work less than two weeks later as he was preparing to start his own law firm shortly afterwards. Our timing could have been better… I don’t remember much from the first weeks of my second daughter’s life other than trying to stay alive, it’s all blur.
I’m at the point now where I can focus on the good parts, my older one connecting with her little sister and protecting her, being blessed that no member of my family or a friend has gotten sick. One of these days I may actually have the chance to use my spinning wheel again.
Double post
I spent the pandemic watching the last months of my dad’s long and pretty devastating illness. We buried him in October. I will be forever grateful to all the nurses, doctors, caretakers etc who didn’t even blink re Covid but just did their job and did it well. None of us caught it, thank God.
So now I’m spending my free time (I have a secure job which I’m so grateful for, especially this year) eating things…. drinking red wine. Watching The Bachelorette. Screw it. In March I thought about polishing up my language skills and then 2020 was all “We’ll see honey!” So no, I’m not quilting. Cheers.
I also don’t have kids, which I’m actually happier about this year than I usually already am. Parents must be losing it.
I truly admire and feel for anyone who has had to cope with kids at home during this lockdown. If youāre trying to maintain a job and keep your kids in front of a computer screen for school, then Iām amazed and even more sympathetic.
My big accomplishment was writing my masters thesis on my back patio and graduating. But my kids are in their 20s and live elsewhere. My biggest disappointment is putting back the twenty pounds I worked so hard to take off last year. I still walk 2-4 miles a day but no gym. Iāve been a yo-yo, up and down. I really look forward to that comfort food. Sometimes polishing off an entire bag of skinny popcorn while watching tv is the highlight of my day. š¤·āāļø
Nice post and FYI they say having 3 (the third child) is the tipper to crazies! Enjoy them when theyāre little.
Folks, I see and hear all of your stories. My story fits in somewhere in there too. Fingers crossed the vaccine(s) works(s).
My kids are 2 and 4. Its 8:30 in the morning and they’re already screaming at each other at the top of their lungs. I’ve got about 3 hours of work to do online today which is great that I can actually spend some time with them today, but sucks because I dont know how I’m going to keep up with my bills. I pretty much just want to get in my car right now and drive head first into a brick wall.
NO @Lady Keller! Can you ask for help around you ? Don’t do it.
I remember watching Madonna on Live with Regis and Kelly 4 kids ago where Kelly encouraged Madonna to have another. She said something which I will never forget, “The only difference is between 1 and more than 1.” Amanda’s comments remind me of that quote.
I’m so happy for her.
Mom of a 4 & 6 y.o. here. I am glad the boys are old enough that they can at least be on their own in one room playing while I am in another. But it has been exhausting. It doesn’t help that my husband is a front line health care worker and we haven’t seen much of him. He tries to get home to say goodnight and tuck them in before working on charts from home. We are also online schooling the oldest for grade one and I feel very sorry for the Kinder teach next year who will be teaching my youngest; Youngest sits and listens to all the lessons and is now much too smart!
As happy as I am for this time, if one more person tells from the older generation how lucky I am and how much I will miss this, I will smack them as soon as I am able to. I have started replying with “And how many pandemics did you parent thru?”
Mom to a 3.5 and a 1 year old. And a husband who often acts like my third child. This pandemic has been the hardest thing. Thereās a reason they say it takes a village. Iāve never been more exhausted or depleted.
I find it so hard to feel bad for celebs. Sorry. I work full time and have two kids and no extra help and no ones giving me a cookie. She’s fortunate she has the means to hire help or have her mom live with them. The rest of us are just on the edge of toughing it out and making it to the next day. No time for her farm, poor baby.