Julia Roberts, 56, celebrated the 19th birthday of her twins, Phinnaeus and Hazel Moder, on November 28. Now, she’s opening up about what it’s like to parent them now that they’re all grown up and away at college. And according to the Steel Magnolias beauty, it’s not all that different from when they were children. “I parent them the same way out of the house that I parented them in the house, which is ‘Are you getting enough sleep? You sound like you’re sick, are you drinking enough tea? Text me when you get home. I can see that you’re home safe and sound,'” she explained to Hoda Kotb and Mahershala Ali during the December 4 episode of Today.
“And I have immense amount of appreciation for both of my older kids because they still allow me to be the same mom to them and it’s not eye-rolling,” the Leave the World Behind star continued. “There’s a huge amount of understanding.” Julia and husband Daniel Moder, 56, welcomed their twins in 2004. They also share son Henry Daniel Moder, 16.
According to the Ticket to Paradise star, the family has typical issues with technology — and she deals with it by implementing “simple” rules for everyone in the household. “So for us, we just had sort of simple rules where we had a charging station where everyone’s phones go when you get home,” she divulged. “There’s no phones at the table, certainly.”
When asked by Mahershala if it’s a “different discomfort” for her to be away for work, versus her children going to college, Julia agreed it is. “Yeah. And it’s funny too, right now me being away,” the mom of three said. “And so Henry and Danny are home, and then I’m in another time zone, and then Phinn is somewhere and Hazel is somewhere and we were all on a FaceTime the other day — together, all of us. And it was so fun, I might of had a towel on my wet head. We were all so happy to be together that way that we still are so deeply in love.”