Angie Harmon Talks Raising Three Daughters as a Single Mom: 'Different Set of Survival Skills' (Exclusive)

The actress opened up to PEOPLE about having to be "the protector and the provider and the nurturer" at home

Angie Harmon is proud of raising three daughters as a single mom.

In an interview with PEOPLE, the actress and director opened up about her experience taking care of daughters Finley, 20, Avery, 18, and Emery, 14, after her 2014 divorce.

"When it's just you, there's a different sort of survival set of skills that take over, you pay more attention to things that you wouldn't normally," Harmon, 51, tells PEOPLE. "You are more aware of things that you wouldn't normally be."

"You learn to be independent in a different way," she continues. "There's a toughness that comes along with someone who constantly has to travel by themselves and protect three girls."

The Law & Order star, who lives outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, shares that she's "realistic" about her role and "what my life requires."

"I'm the protector and the provider and the nurturer. I'm all the things," she says. "It's just bizarre because I'm the one that changes the light bulbs in the 12-foot ceilings and I'm the one that carries the 60-lb bag of dog food from the grocery store to the car."

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Related: Angie Harmon Says Her Daughters Put on Rizzoli & Isles to Comfort Their Dogs While She's Gone (Exclusive)

Harmon then delves into a new book she read, Tired of Trying, by her friend Ashley Morgan Jackson, expressing how much the subject matter spoke to her.

"You just imagine that your life is going to be one way and then it turns out to be another. Now I wouldn't have it any other way. I love the life that I've been blessed with, and I wouldn't have my daughters if I didn't have that marriage and all of that," she says of the girls' father, Jason Sehorn, 52, who also lives in Charlotte.

Harmon and Sehorn, who remain amicable, divorced in 2014 after 13 years of marriage.

"So I mean, I get it. It wasn't exactly my plan, but it's God's plan. And that's normally — that's what works the best. So I'm down. That's fine."

Reflecting on the passage of time, Harmon says she can't believe her oldest, who just moved into her first apartment in Dallas, just turned 20.

"I mean, Finley is 20 years old and I'm like, 'What?' She can't believe it. I can't believe it. So I've been telling people that my daughters are all teenagers for 10 years and now I have this 20-year-old... "

Harmon says "that right there" is just something to "sit and ponder" about, but she's enjoying every moment of motherhood.

Now looking forward to Christmas, Harmon says decorating and hosting for the holiday is her "favorite thing" with her daughters and all of their friends.

"I mean, it looks like Santa Claus walked in and just threw up all over my house," she jokes. "I'll break out all the great china — we put heaters on the porch and eat outside and it really is, it's just my favorite. It's cold and I just love it."

"There's always something in a crockpot or in a slow cooker — I love to have people over."

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Read the original article on People.