Busy Philipps is proud of eldest daughter Birdie’s “whole journey” at boarding school in Sweden.
“We have a really close relationship and she’s very similar to her mother in every way and very expressive, so she’s not so much a typical teenager,” Philipps, 44, said exclusively Us weekly on Wednesday, May 1, as we discuss Mental Health Awareness Month. “She was at boarding school abroad this year [and] It’s a whole journey. It wasn’t my choice [for her to go]. I mean, it was her decision, but I encouraged her to do it [spread her wings].”
She added: “I think it’s really great for her to experience a different culture and also it’s made our relationship focus more on the fun things and less on ‘clean your room’, ‘do the laundry’ and ‘ Stand up’ ‘ [and] ‘Eat your vegetables.’ Now there’s someone else doing it, so I just get the fun stuff.”
Philipps shares Birdie, 16, with his ex-husband Marc Silverstein, along with her youngest daughter, Cricket, 10. During Birdie’s high school years, she enrolled in college in Sweden. While Philipps can see Birdie “every day” via FaceTime, she misses being able to “hold” her daughter.
“She got really sick over the winter and it was really difficult not being there,” Philipps said Us, referring to Birdie’s recent seizure that led to an epilepsy diagnosis. “So it was all a challenge. But I’m also really so proud of her and the person she wants to be [to be]. She is very independent like her mother. [And] Especially given the pandemic and the last few years and what these children have experienced, they have spent enough time with their parents, [and] are like, ‘Can I please be with some kids?'”
Birdie Silverstein and Busy Philipps.
Slaven Vlasic/Getty ImagesWhile Birdie is now doing well at her boarding school – and her health is “really good” – Cricket continues to live at home in the United States with Philipps.
“Cricket is their own person with their own really unique interests and we’ll see what that all looks like for cricket,” she said Girls5Eva star said of her youngest daughter. Philipps also defended her decision not to share cricket updates frequently on social media. “I’m more reserved [post] about cricket just because it’s not their thing. And so I really respect that. She says, “Let me be my own person,” and I understand. I love that for her.”
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In addition to co-parenting her daughters with Silverstein, Philipps is prioritizing her own mental health and learning to adapt to her ADHD diagnosis.
“I mean, [my diagnosis has] changed everything,” she told us. “My leadership skills have improved enormously. Also, I’m a lot more aware and able to prioritize, because I think that’s a big part of it too: when everything feels kind of jumbled, it’s hard to know how to prioritize things in your brain.”
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi