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Christina Applegate wants her daughter to know she truly understands the challenges of being a teen.
During a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live promoting her new memoir You With the Sad Eyes, the 54-year-old Married... with Children alum revealed that she allowed her 15-year-old daughter Sadie, whom she shares with husband Martyn LeNoble, to read her old journals. Applegate explained to host Jimmy Kimmel, 58, that she hoped the gesture would show Sadie that her feelings are valid and that she isn't alone in her experiences.
"I let her go through that one because I was like, you're not unique in the sense of — just understand that your mom understands it, right?" Applegate said. "You know that like you're hurting, and I'm sorry. S--- happens, and it's awful. I needed her to see that her mom understood that it hurts."
Applegate went on to say that the same motivation guided her writing of her memoir. "I get it. I want you to feel me, and I want you to understand that I feel you. That's kind of what this book is about," she said. She added that her memoir shares some of the difficult moments in her life and is meant to encourage connection and empathy. "I really do want all of us to come together and go, we have each other," she said.
Becoming a mother, Applegate explained, brought an overwhelming level of love she had never experienced before. "I love my kid more than I ever knew was possible," she told PEOPLE in an emotional interview. "It's a spiritual thing. I really love her." Balancing her career with health concerns, including her 2017 ovary and fallopian tube removal and a 2021 multiple sclerosis diagnosis, Applegate emphasized that Sadie remains her
top priority. "The most important person in this world is my daughter," she said during her Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in 2022. "I am blessed every day that I get to wake up and take her to school. She is my everything."
Applegate has also opened up about the impact her MS diagnosis has had on parenting. She explained that her daughter has witnessed her limitations and losses, from being unable to dance together daily to reduced physical presence. "There are times when my symptoms are so painful that I just can't be there. That breaks me because I love doing stuff for my kid," she shared. Yet, she emphasized that she continues to try, doing her best to care for and support Sadie despite the challenges.
Her memoir and candid conversations reflect her desire to connect with her daughter and help her feel understood, even as they navigate life's difficulties together.
