Drew Barrymore Shares the Upside of Co-parenting With Her Ex-Husband: 'Both Parents Get a Day Off'

Drew Barrymore hosts daytime's The Drew Barrymore Show. But her entrepreneurial mind is always whirring, and in a quest to make her own kitchen prettier, she launched a line of kitchenware and appliances at Walmart called Beautiful. Barrymore and her ex, Will Kopelman, are raising daughters Olive, 9, and Frankie, 7, in New York City. Here the actor dives into the highs and lows of parenting.

Recent parenting win

Getting my daughter Olive to help me load and unload the dishwasher.

Recent parenting miss

Losing it when Olive tried to tell me how to drive.

Upside to coparenting

Both parents get a day off.

Hardest part of coparenting

You miss them when you're apart because that wasn't the plan.

Cooking success

Olive and Frankie are both using the Beautiful Blender under my supervision to make delicious smoothies.

Cooking failure

We failed pancakes really hard the other day.

Movie I'm in that I'll show my kids

They've already seen Ever After: A Cinderella Story and 50 First Dates.

Movie I'm in that I probably won't show my kids

Scream (until they're old enough).

Sweet sisterly moment

Them (and me!) all listening to the soundtrack from Sing 2 together.

Crazy sisterly moment

Right as I'm trying to do this interview, they're play fighting all over the grocery store. It's cute but making me question if I'm a bad parent because I wonder if it's bothering other customers.

Great thing about raising strong women

I've never felt it wasn't okay to be one.

Challenge of raising strong women

We live in a modern world, so it's a challenge to make sure we don't overexpose our kids while allowing them autonomy.

I'm happiest when

Everything is flowing and the girls are behaving and we're just all really content.

I'm aggravated when

They forget to be polite.

I feel like a cool mom when

My kids and I are listening to great music, because they're old enough now. It's a real turning point when you go from kiddie tunes to rock and roll. I just love listening with them and singing and dancing.

I feel like a dorky mom when

I run to my daughter's dance class right after I get off work and clap wildly for her last number.

This article originally appeared in Parents magazine's April 2022 issue as "Highs and Lows Drew Barrymore." Want more from the magazine? Sign up for a monthly print subscription here