“I feel very blessed to have two wonderful, healthy children who keep me completely grounded, sane and throw up on my shoes just before I go to an awards show just so I know to keep it real.” ~Reese Witherspoon

Actress/mom/goddess Reese Witherspoon recently “got real” about parenthood in an interview with Southern Living magazine.

“No one’s really doing it perfectly,” Witherspoon told the mag’s editor-at-large, Jenna Bush Hager.

“I think you love your kids with your whole heart, and you do the best you possibly can,” she says. “But, you know, right now I’m feeling sad missing my little 2-year-old [Tennessee], and my daughter [Ava]s about to finish her freshman year of high school, and my son [Deacon] has a golf tournament this weekend that I hope I don’t miss.”

But, the actress says, her kids are pretty supportive.

“There are some sacrifices you make, and it hurts your heart sometimes,” she says “But my kids tell me they’re proud of what I’ve accomplished, and that just means everything. I grew up with a working mom, and I have so much respect for the things she did as a nurse and a teacher. I would never begrudge her that.”

Southern Values Still in Place

I can’t lie – I’ve always loved me some Reese Witherspoon. Between her fashion sense and her hot-mom-ness, who wouldn’t love her? (And I have a serious affinity for the whole Legally Blonde thing – but ONLY the Reese version!).

But the Sweet Home Alabama star’s strong ethics and liberal Southern values are being passed along to her kids – I love it. Growing up, Witherspoon said her parents were strict but “incredibly loving,” adding that “We had family dinner every night. That’s a big thing I learned from my grandmother, to spend time with your kids and listen to their dreams.”

‘And, of Southern women, Witherspoon says she knows only strong ones.

“I don’t know a weak Southern woman. My mom says if you want something done, then ask a Southern woman,” she says.