Jennifer Garner appeared on the last hour of Today with Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager Tuesday. She was promoting her Once Upon A Farm’s new product, Farmer Jen’s Sweet Potato Pudding, which uses her grandmother’s recipe (minus the two cups of sugar). Her OUaF brand is now officially partnered with Save the Children. Jen’s company has helped Save the Children feed 9.5M children during the pandemic. Jen had to get up early to call in from California. She had another reason for that, she was making homemade bagels for daughter, Violet Affleck’s, 15th birthday. None of the ladies could believe little Violet was 15 and to be honest, I was a bit surprised by the news myself. No sooner did the words “daughter” and “teen” come out than the conversation turned to worries about her dating. Jen quickly walked past the topic by saying Violet is in Zoom school and that it’s an all-girl school.
Here’s hoping that Jennifer Garner’s film 13 Going on 30 somehow provided her with insight on how to handle fast-growing teens.
The Love, Simon star appeared on NBC’s TODAY show on Tuesday, Dec. 1, where she told hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager that the day happens to be an exciting one for her daughter Violet.
“There’s a lot of Zoom happening in my house, a lot of Zoom, but I don’t have really little ones, so they’re all pretty much in control of what they’re doing,” Jennifer said when discussing her day-to-day routine.
This led her to point out the family milestone. “My daughter is 15 today,” the 48-year-old Peppermint actress continued. “Can you believe little Violet Affleck, she is 15?”
At this, Hoda and Jenna shared their astonishment at the fact that Jennifer actually has a teenager already. And Hoda wanted to know how the star handles Violet’s questions about dating.
“All I know is, she’s on Zoom school, she goes to an all-girls school,” Jennifer said with a laugh. “We haven’t had to deal with that yet.”
I have many friends who are concerned about their kids dating. My kids haven’t gone on proper one-on-one dates yet, but they have had crushes over to the house or out with us on family outings. They talk to us about their crushes all the time and for some reason, this has never bothered me. I was “going with” boys starting in sixth grade, I don’t know that my parents got too worked up over it either. That’s not a fair comparison, though, because my mother worked at my middle school, so she knew every kid and their parents. I like Jen, so I hope her reaction has to do with the fact that Violet is her firstborn and not with the fact that she’s a girl, because a few of my friends have really disappointed me when it came to antiquated notions about daughters vs. sons dating.
They rest of Jen’s interview, which I posted below, is cute. I could picture them all sitting on a couch and gabbing. I think I might even want to join them. Jen is posting phony cooking show videos that look cute. She talked several times about the bagels she was about to make for Violet’s birthday breakfast. I have a decent bagel recipe, I might break it out for Hanukah next week. The three also talked about getting kids to eat vegetables and Jen brought up a tip I’d forgotten: while dinner’s being made, put out some cut up veggies. They’ll eat their vegetables by the time dinner’s out. Plus, they think it was their idea. You can use the same trick when they start dating and don’t want to ruin their outfit with a sweater to keep them from getting cold. Put a bunch of sweaters and jackets on the hall tree and just tell them to grab something as they leave, that way they will think it’s their idea!
(Note by CB: Here’s my favorite bagel recipe. No boiling required!)
Photo credit: YouTube and Instagram
Violet has a lot of her mom’s features.
Also what does being in an all-girls school have to do with dating? She could be dating one of them? Also I wish people stopped asking about personal relationship questions of female celebs specifically and now of their (female) offspring too.
It felt to me as a deflection – it’s not anyone’s business outside of the family if she’s dating or not, and that’s a good way to acknowledge the question and move on in a relatively harmless manner (putting aside your very true point around dating one of her classmates). I agree about asking about personal relationships, it’s unnecessary.
I like how she handled that. It’s probably best to let that part of her kids’ lives stay private anyway.
Maybe her and mum talked about it and she already knows shes straight?
She prob doesn’t want to invade her daughters privacy though, imagine your mum told the world your business at 15.
Maybe because she doesn’t like girls like that?
I went to an all girls school and had a very…fun…phase lol parents don’t seem to grasp that going to an all girls/boys school has very little to do with sex/dating.
great catch @deezee
To be fair Honda asked her specifically about “boys”. Not that it is Hoda’s or our business!
Parents should certainly be talking to their 15 year old children about dating. My friend who is a middle school guidance counselor said you need to talk to your kids about sex, dating and relationships well before 5th grade to get ahead of all the misinformation they will get from their classmates.
Jennifer has really grown on me. I saw an interview she did on PBS’s Tell Me More and I came away from it liking her and thinking she had far more depth than I gave her credit for.
Think I’ve said this before, but my son worked with her (and Jill Biden) for Save The Children, and couldn’t have been more impressed. He said she was hard working, very considerate, and down to earth. She does things that are not even publicized, though many people here seem to think it’s all for her image. My son says otherwise!
I love jens cooking videos! I think she’s cute and funny and I just love them.
Also there is a pandemic on people. She can’t be “dating dating” if she’s got her pod and her schools is all girls. But she can still be meeting guys and chatting with them FaceTime etc.
Yeah, her cooking videos are a sweet and soothing antidote to a lot of the craziness of this era. And I have a soft spot for her ever since her Alias days.
My kids are in college and not dating (my 19yo hasn’t dated since his junior year of high school and my 21yo has never dated at all) but they chat with friends pretty much all day when they’re not studying, so I imagine high schoolers are the same.
Jennifer Garner is always pretty unflappable, no matter what dumb question someone asks her. I imagine parrying questions about Ben’s antics for many years has made her a pro.
My least favourite thing is dads getting all macho about their daughters, how they want to lock them away or threaten potential boyfriends away etc etc. Yuck.
Good point, I hadn’t made that connection. After Ben’s behavior and having to navigate that in the media, I’m sure she doesn’t get flustered by questions about her daughter dating!
Zoom school with all girls doesn’t mean she’s not dating, just saying.
My 12 year old has had a few crushes on girls and while I’m totally chill about it in front of him, my husband bears the brunt of my angst. Lol. He’s my baby and I’m not ready for this yet!!!
I know the best thing I can do is be cool and not make it a thing. Listen when he talks, and be there when he needs me. But the deranged part of me wants to run background checks on an 11 year old’s whole family. It’s not just dad’s with antiquated notions about dating lol.
And hopefully it’s obvious that I’m teasing.
My 12 yo hasn’t really talked about any crushes to us yet, but there’s definitely some interest because the personal hyenine level has increased 10 fold 😀 I’m not complaining. I’m not sure I’m ready to hear about crushes though, honestly. I will always listen, but I’m more than happy to have Dad front that area 😀 I agree, it’s not just dad’s with antiquated notions about dating 😉
My parents were pretty strict with me when it came to boys, which only made me hide things from them. I hope they’re not repressing her very healthy teenage self in any way. Its no one’s business what a minor gets up to, especially a morning show.
Just a tidbit, Joe and Jill Biden are friends with JG. If you check the Bidens IGs , Jennifer is one of the very few the Bidens follow. Dr. Biden only follows 12 people.
I thought Garner handled that well. It was completely inappropriate for them to ask her underage child’s dating status in an interview!
“ Jen’s company has helped Save the Children feed 9.5M children during the pandemic.“
That’s fantastic! Jen does seem genuinely involved in giving back
Well, she’s the opposite of Kristen Bell, who over shares her daughters lives! Good job deflecting!
I really love Jen. I think she seems genuinely sweet and kind. Just like a nice, down to earth person. Idk. I’ve never had a single issue with her. She’s been through a lot in her personal life and handled it with grace.
IMO, super inappropriate for the hosts to be asking about dating. It’s ok if she is, but not all kids even WANT to date at that age. I had crushes here and there at that age but had no interest in acting on it, I was too shy. She’s still a child, leave her alone. Jen deflected well.
Agreed- very inappropriate to ask about her teen daughter dating. Deflection was good!
Can Jen be my Mom?