Jennifer Garner Admits She Can Feel Like a ‘Visitor’ in Her Own Home. Then Her Kids Say ‘OK, Mom We See You’

NEED TO KNOW

• Jennifer Garner says balancing her career and raising her three kids can sometimes make her feel disconnected at home

• She reconnects with her family through simple moments like baking and creating cozy spaces in their Brentwood home

• In a Better Homes & Gardens cover story, Garner emphasizes the importance of hard work and how she instills that in her kids

Jennifer Garner says her hectic career as an actress, producer, entrepreneur and nonprofit leader can sometimes make her feel like a “visitor” in her own home. But the mom of three tells Better Homes & Gardens it’s the ordinary moments that bring her back to reality. 

“When I’m working, I can almost feel like a visitor in the house,” The Five-Star Weekend star, 54, tells the magazine for its July/August 2026 cover story. “I’m gone before [the kids] are awake. I give them a kiss when I come home. I might have dinner with them, and then I’m like, ‘I’m so sorry, I have to learn lines and go to bed.'”

It can be hard to balance her film, TV, business and charity projects with raising her kids: Violet, 20; Fin, 17; and Sam, 14, whom she shares with ex-husband Ben Affleck. But simple at-home tasks, like her love of baking, will quickly reconnect her family, she says.

“There’s something very healing for me about them waking up to cinnamon bread or bagels,” she says. “This morning I had French toast waiting for them and music playing. They were like: ‘OK, Mom. We see you. You’re back.'”

Garner and Affleck wed in 2005, welcomed their first child, daughter Violet, that same year, and split a decade later before divorcing in 2018.

When the Alias alum is home at her family’s Brentwood property in Los Angeles, she does her best to make it the perfect gathering spot for friends and family. “My house is very ‘sit-able’ and cozy,” she says. “I built this house, and each area is like its own little conversation area. I can have a big gathering, but even those [spaces] have a little window seat or a way to tuck away. It’s interesting to see how groups migrate from one spot to another.”

The 13 Going on 30 star also recently revealed she doesn’t apologize to her kids for her busy work schedule, saying that “working hard is a part of life.” 

“To have this year and a half where I just indulged [in acting], because this job is very selfish. It’s all about your schedule,” she previusly told InStyle. “It’s not about what the kids have going on at school. It’s not about pickups and drop-offs and making it home for dinner.”

“When I work, I don’t apologize to my kids for it. I do thank them for being so sweet about it. But that’s part of life,” Garner added. “Working hard is part of life, and messing up is part of life. Tripping and falling—there’s room for all of it.”

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Jennifer Garner’s cover story appears in the July/August 2026 issue of Better Homes & Gardens and is available online at bhg.com/jennifer.

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