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Julie Bowen is opening up about what motherhood has taught her.
While speaking with PEOPLE at the Baby2Baby Gala on Saturday, Nov. 8, the Modern Family actress, 55, shares one of the lessons she’s learned while raising her three sons: twins John and Gustav, 16, and Oliver, 18. Bowen says that motherhood taught her that she’s “doing more right than wrong.”
“Believe in them. I like to micromanage and check everything, and that’s not good for the relationships,” she tells PEOPLE. “It’s good to remind them that no matter what, no matter how many things they’ve effed up on that week, that month, that year, that they’re doing more right than wrong.”
She adds, “And that is something I’ve really learned, ‘You’re doing more right than wrong,'”
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The Emmy-winning actress shares her three boys with ex-husband Scott Phillips. She welcomed their first son, Oliver, in 2007. Two years later, Bowen gave birth to the twins, John and Gustav, in 2009.
While she’s best known for playing Claire Dunphy on the long-running sitcom Modern Family, Bowen has said that her role as an on-screen mom is different from being a parent in real life.
“On TV shows, people talk to each other,” the actress joked on Today in 2021. “When you have three boys, it’s more like grunting. And you identify their mood kind of by their smell.”
The Jumping the Broom actress recently spent some quality time with her oldest son and brought along a close friend with her.
On Sunday, Oct. 26, she shared a series of photographs on her Instagram after spending the weekend with her son Oliver at his college, the University of Oregon. In one sweet snap, Bowen could be seen smiling next to her teenage son, who posed next to his mom.
She also included a picture of Autzen Stadium, which featured a rainbow, as well as a shot of the arena during a downpour. Another photo showed Bowen alongside her former Modern Family costar and University of Oregon alum Ty Burrell, who leaned over to get in frame.
“Great (wet) weekend with @itsoliverphillips at U of Oregon. Dancing bears, old friends and a deluge…all capped off by a win from the Oregon Ducks at Autzen!” Bowen wrote in her caption.
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This past September, the proud mom shared a series of photos on Instagram as she dropped off her son Oliver at college for his freshman year. In one photo, Bowen could be seen hugging her son, and in another, Oliver made a heart out of his hands with his dad, Phillips.
A third photo showed Bowen and her son smiling together in a mother-son selfie, and in the last photo, Bowen got a ride on her ex-husband Phillips’ shoulders in Oliver’s dorm room.
“Sweet Baby Oliver…you were born 5 minutes ago, so how can I possibly be leaving you at college? You made me a mother, and I learned more (and been humbled more) from being your mom for the past 18 years than I could ever have imagined,” Bowen sweetly wrote in her caption.
“Now I have to learn to do the hardest thing a parent has the privilege of doing and let you go. No, it’s NOT forever, but it’s the end of one big chapter, so – yeah – I’m going to cry,” she continued. “(I’m also 100% percent going to sit on your Dad’s shoulders to work on the lighting in your dorm room.) I love you, Monkey. Always No matter what. 💚💛.”
