00:00I don't relax before going on set or stage at all.
00:04Talk radio really calms me down for some reason.
00:07And if I can get a little Larry Mantle in before I show up on set,
00:11you know it's going to be a good day.
00:21I'm a big fan of efficiency.
00:23But I don't hate getting glammed up.
00:26It's a very lucky part of my job to play with makeup and clothes.
00:31And I love it.
00:32But if I had to choose, I would wear no makeup and stay in bed with my kids all day.
00:42I feel the most present with my kids when I'm putting them to bed.
00:48I heard from a child psychologist once that their brains are the most open right before they go to bed.
00:53So if anything happened during the day that you need to talk about with them,
00:58like maybe you shouldn't have thrown a punch at your sister at the dining room table.
01:02Say it right before bed because their brains are in this place where they're getting sleepy
01:08but phenomenally aware of the world around them and able to digest new information.
01:13I also like just sitting on the bed and watching them get ready.
01:18Watching them in their own element feels wonderful.
01:27One thing I hope my daughters take away from my husband and I is conflict resolution.
01:34I personally think we don't explore that enough with kids.
01:39And that's why we have a bunch of adults who don't know how to solve their problems.
01:43And I being one of them because I don't feel like I had the most amazing examples of how to
01:49solve something.
01:50We all feel the problems, but when they were really young, my husband said to me,
01:54you know, what's interesting is they will see us fight.
01:57They'll see us get grumpy with one another.
01:59But parents then walk into a bedroom and say sorry once the door is closed.
02:03And the kids don't get that example.
02:06So let's make a handshake deal now that if we are arguing,
02:12that we will make up in front of the kids.
02:14Even if that's the next morning, we will just put on the play in front of our three and four
02:20year old daughters and go,
02:22hey daddy, last night when I came home I was pretty grumpy after work.
02:25And I was grumpy because of things that happened at work and I took it out on you and I'm
02:29sorry.
02:30So that they see options for conflict resolution.
02:33And I hope that when they leave our house, they recognize that we taught them some of those skills.
02:40We keep the humor alive in our marriage by both firmly believing that everything deserves to be loved,
02:49but also everything deserves to be laughed at, including yourself.
02:54We try to kick the egos to the curb and make fun of each other often.
03:01I love what I do.
03:03I feel like I'm one of the luckiest people on planet Earth to be able to do it.
03:06It fills me up creatively.
03:08But one thing I try to constantly remind myself of is that I like being an actress, but I love
03:15being Kristen.
03:16And when I prioritize being Kristen, which is not yearning for accolades or presenting myself,
03:24just being at home with my family, acting like the mother and wife and friend I should act like,
03:29it is when my self-esteem is highest.
03:35I strive to feel like my most authentic self at all times.
03:40Even if that's weird, even if that's not as smiley as people think you should be,
03:45even if that's way more smiley than people think you should be.
03:49My current mantra is it doesn't matter what other people think about you.
03:53It matters what you think about you.
04:03It matters what you think about you.
