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Nevertheless, the Walk the Line Oscar winner – and now-single mother of 8-year-old Ava, and 4-year-old Deacon – says she's glad she's got time at home with them.
"Like every working parent, I sometimes feel that there are not enough hours in the day," Witherspoon, 31, tells Marie Claire for its February issue. "But overall, I'm very fortunate that my job has a lot of flexibility. I spend a lot of time with the kids, just around the house. They're still pretty young, so I feel like what I can mostly do is listen to them and be there for them."
As a mom, she says, "I worry about my kids growing up and how the world might hurt them. But at the same time, I absolutely do not worry about them growing up – because they have great values and a great sense of self."
The New Orleans native learned her parenting skills from her own mother and father, who were both doctors.
"I had parents who believed I could do anything – and I know how that made me feel," says the actress "I think both my parents, having careers in the medical profession, feel they are helping people on a daily basis, and that was inculcated in me as a value. I had to struggle with giving up the idea of becoming a doctor myself."
As for fun around the house – besides messing up mommy's shoes – Witherspoon says her family’s guilty pleasures are "game shows like the new Crosswords and Deal or No Deal. And Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? is very popular in my house."
JOSH & FERGIE: ROCKED BY SCANDAL
Did he cheat with a stripper?
Married less than a year, the couple denies an Atlanta woman’s claims that she and Josh had a fling
Note that this week’s cover of PEOPLE may differ regionally
