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Marie Claire
Marie Claire
Lifestyle
Maisie Bovingdon

JLo discusses blended family with husband Ben Affleck

Ben Affleck Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez - also known as JLo - rekindled her relationship with Ben Affleck 20 years after the couple started dating. 

The pair's relationship has gone from strength to strength, and we think they are absolute #couplegoals, especially with their matching tattoos.

JLo and Ben - who married in 2022 after Ben proposed earlier in the year - have frequently spoken out about their relationship journey, even if it makes Ben feel slightly uncomfortable. 

The latest insight the Ain't Your Mama hitmaker has given us into her marriage with the Gone Girl actor is around their blended family and parenthood. 

The 53-year-old singer and actor has 15-year-old twins, Max and Emme, with ex-husband Marc Anthony, while Ben has Samuel, Seraphina and Violet with former partner Jennifer Garner. 

The Maid in Manhattan star has found the teenage years "challenging". 

Speaking about parenting her teenagers on Live with Kelly and Mark, JLo said: "It's almost five teenagers.  The younger is 11, so he's not quite, but pre-teen. He's an angel.

"But the teenage years are tough. It's challenging. You have this baby for a while and then it's like, your best little friend who loves being with you all the time, and then all of a sudden it's like, 'Get out of my room.'"

"It's a time when they are individuation, and they are challenging everything you say and everything you do and everything you are, and that's what it is. And you have to kind of just ride the waves.

"I feel like it's surfing. I'm riding the waves, and then it's like, 'Oops, I just got knocked over!' Now, I'm back, I'm back!"

Jennifer believes mothers do have a harder time parenting than dads. 

She continued: "I think it's particularly hard on mums, because they always love dad, they're always like, 'Dad's the best!' — and I was like that with my dad too. And my mom told me, and I'll say it to you right now, on TV in front of everybody. I understand you so much more now."

JLo reflected on her parenting skills, in comparison to her mums, and has hinted she is a little more relaxed. 

She explained: "I'm just a little bit looser. I think my mom, for a long time, was a stay-at-home mom, and I've always been a working mom, so that right there is a very different thing.  And also she was 20 years old — by the time she was 26, she had 3 kids.

"So she was kind of a kid raising kids. And I had my kids when I was 38, so I had them much later, so I was more of an adult at that time.  We kind of grew up together."

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