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As the three children Jennifer Garner<\/strong><\/a> shares with ex-husband Ben Affleck<\/strong><\/a> get older, the actress said there\u2019s one thing in particular she\u2019s had a \u201chard\u201d time dealing with.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a really hard time not saying, \u2018This is what I see you as,\u2019 and, \u2018I think you should,\u2019\u201d Jennifer, 51, told People<\/em><\/a> in an interview published on Thursday, March 27.<\/p>\n \u201cI really have to sit on my hands,\u201d the Peppermint<\/em> star said about watching and allowing her kids make their own decisions<\/a>, while admitting her parents did the same thing with her.<\/p>\n Jennifer shares Violet<\/strong>, 18, Seraphina, 15, and son Samuel, 12, with Ben, 51. The former couple wed in June 2004 and split in 2015, although their divorce wasn\u2019t finalized until October 2018.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re really solid right now,\u201d the 13 Going on 30<\/em> star said of her teenagers \u200band soon-to-be 13- year old, adding, \u201cI\u2019m just watching them in this new phase of life where they\u2019re figuring out who they\u2019re going to be and what they\u2019re going to study. And I\u2019m so interested in them. All the time, I\u2019m interested in everything about them.\u201d<\/p>\n When it comes to studying, her eldest daughter, Violet, will be graduating from high school in the spring of 2024 and heading off to college. Jen revealed during a November 2023 appearance on Live With Kelly and Mark<\/em> that Violet was already in the process of touring school campuses<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is exciting,\u201d the Once Upon a Farm owner gushed. \u201cI can see the stress \u2014 even though the excitement and stress go hand in hand. But she\u2019s handling it like a champ and she\u2019s totally in charge. I\u2019m not having to say, \u2018Are you doing this, are you doing this?\u2019 She\u2019s a self-starter. And I\u2019m just proud of her no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n Jennifer added that she has to deal with what comes with her other children\u2019s activities. \u201cYeah, I\u2019m a basketball mom but also a debate mom, which basically means batting down the hatches and saying, \u2018Please don\u2019t debate me right now. Like, just, please, please, please talk to someone else if you want to have a tussle,’\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n However, the Alias<\/em> alum was still impressed with her children\u2019s debate skills. \u201cIt is incredible for building confidence, for building, just the ability to articulate an argument. I grew up in the South \u2014 I didn\u2019t know how to have an argument until I was 40!\u201d she laughed.<\/p>\n Jennifer and Ben have maintained a healthy coparenting relationship with their children following their divorce. The Argo<\/em> star married Jennifer Lopez<\/em> in July 2022, and her twins she shares with ex-husband Marc Anthony<\/strong> have blended into a family unit alongside Ben\u2019s kids<\/a>.<\/p>\n