After feeling like she couldn’t talk about her inner turmoil as a kid, Amanda Seyfried is doing everything in her power to ensure her own children know they can “say anything they want with no judgment” from her and her husband.

During an interview with Today, the award-winning actress opened up about the difficulties she faced as a child who unknowingly had OCD and anxiety. She recalled being unable to sleep for an entire summer as a young teen because of the anxieties that were bottled up in her mind, explaining, “I didn’t know that I could [talk about it].”

The Mean Girls alum expressed the same sentiment toward struggling with OCD, asserting she would have felt capable of so much more had she been aware that she was grappling with the condition.

“I just want my kids to know that they can come to me no matter what,” Seyfried shared. “Embarrassed, fearful, anxious, excited, whatever they’re feeling, if they let it out a little bit, it’s liberating.” She professed that her judgment-free policy with her two children has been helpful for her own mental health as well. The Mamma Mia star likened the experience of parenthood to being “a bird let out of a cage,” as she feels in a way that she’s parenting herself through parenting her kids — and by going to therapy.

The mom of two also spoke about the importance of maintaining a sense of self after becoming a parent. “[Parenthood] inundates your life in a way that is so wonderful, but it’s a lot of work and it leaves so little room for your old life,” Seyfried expressed.

The Les Misérables star asserted that she doesn’t view having interests and personal priorities outside of her children as “selfish,” but rather “as [being] somebody who wants to be whole for their kids, because your kids deserve full parents.”

One of the ways Seyfried maintains her personal agency is by reclaiming her home from the tiny humans who invaded it. To do so, the Jennifer’s Body actress started a children’s brand with two of her best friends called Make It Cute, and their current focus is a line of aesthetically pleasing indoor playhouses.

“[After having kids,] the house can sometimes become a junkyard and, to speak for myself, my psyche, I want to feel some sense of peace and I still feel like it’s my house too,” the 37-year-old said of the inspiration behind the brand.

In addition to being U.S.-based and recyclable, Seyfried promised the playhouse designs are “really cute,” living up to the company’s name.

The Dear John star became a mom for the first time in March 2017 when she welcomed her daughter Nina with husband Thomas Sadoski. Three years later in September 2020, the couple added a son, Thomas, to their family.