Celebrity Parents Jessica Alba Admits She 'Wrestles' with Her Kids Having a Different Upbringing Than She Did Jessica Alba is talking about her experiences as a mom and why her kids have a different understanding of things than she did at their age By Angela Andaloro Angela Andaloro Angela Andaloro is a Society & Culture Staff Writer at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on BuzzFeed, Entertainment Weekly, and LittleThings. People Editorial Guidelines Published on March 10, 2023 03:34PM EST Jessica Alba. Photo: Swan Gallet/WWD via Getty Jessica Alba is opening up about raising kids who are growing up in a different way than she did. The 41-year-old entrepreneur and mom of three appeared on the latest episode of Who's Talking to Chris Wallace? on CNN and HBO Max, where she shared that being a parent to her three kids, Hayes, 5, Haven, 11, and Honor, 14, "really connected me with my femininity." "[It connected me with] what that means and I think my true power as a person that's here for a reason," she continued. "And get me out of, frankly, living in survival mode and worried about a bunch of other things that don't matter. And trying to live inside of a super hardcore world where I felt like I was so disconnected from my truth." Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Jessica Alba. Jessica Alba/Instagram Jessica Alba Shares Sweet Family Photos from Disneyland Trip to Celebrate Son Hayes' 5th Birthday "I think that being a mom really helped me get closer to my soul and my truth," she added. Alba also opened up about what it's like to raise her kids, who she shares with husband Cash Warren, in different financial circumstances than her own upbringing. "I wrestle with this! And I try, I try to get them to understand a reality that's just frankly, not a reality that they'll ever understand." Jessica Alba and family at Disney. Jessica Alba/instagram "I really wrestle with this one," she continued. "It's not possible for them to understand what it was like for me or what it's genuinely like for other people." Alba added, "And I don't know now if they ever really need to see the sadness or the hardship that brings out in people. I don't know if it'll make them better people." "More importantly, I really, really want them to have empathy and compassion and humility and really operate in the world with kindness and gratitude," she concluded.