Brooke Shields is on the verge of becoming an empty nester – but says her parenting journey is far from over.
The model and actress, 58, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue that she thought she would feel “relieved” when she got to the point where her two daughters — Rowan, 20, and Grier, 18 — were grown and living independently. Instead, she discovered that moms never really stop caring for their children.
“You come on holiday and all you do is think about where they are and what they’re doing. It’s like there’s no relief,” she says of the times she and husband Chris Henchy have gone off on their own. “It’s like people say, ‘Oh, it’s going to be great. Just when they can walk. You don’t have to wear them everywhere. Then they walk everywhere and you worry about them falling down the stairs and in the pool and down the street, and then they can walk.’ ”
Brooke Shields ‘not ready’ to be an empty nester without her 2 daughters: ‘Foreign Territory’ (Exclusive)
Shields continues, “And every step of the way, you think it’s going to be a relief. And then a whole bunch of worries just get slapped in your face.”
Brooke Shields with daughters Rowan (left) and Grier (right).
Gregory Pace/Shutterstock
Although her daughters are entering adulthood, Mother of the Bride star says she still doesn’t feel like she can shake off the worry and mental strain of parenthood.
“What’s the expression? Wearing your heart on your sleeve? This is like a heavy suit. A whole body suit of heart,” she says, describing the experience of having children.
In September, when Grier starts college, she and Henchy, 60, will find themselves with an empty house — a prospect Shields says she initially looked forward to, but now feels uneasy about.
“[I’m] he is not ready. I thought it would make me feel better, but I don’t know. I’ll see if I do when I get there, but I think I’ll be fine… the thought of not living 24/7 in a house with these people I raised, it’s just very foreign… it’s like going to a completely foreign area,” she tells PEOPLE.
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Shields also says it’s been an adjustment to watch her girls grow into independent, young women, almost as if she’s meeting a new version of them.
“I said to my younger daughter, ‘You’re going to have to give me a little time because I have to get to know you. All your life from the day you were born, I told you when to sleep, when to wake up, when to eat, what to eat, what not to eat, what to say, what not to say, how to dress, when not to wear them,” she explains.
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Brooke Shields and daughters Rowan and Grier.
Brooke Shields/Instagram
Brooke Shields admits her grown daughters still ‘sleep in bed with me’ when her husband is out of town
“And then they start revealing themselves to you. And you have to realize, ‘Oh, that’s a person,'” the star continues. “I told my daughter, I mean, ‘I have to introduce myself.’ Because all I know is that you do what I say you should do. And you’re not a baby anymore. And I need some time to get used to you again as a young woman.’ ”
Shields previously spoke about her close relationship with her daughters during an appearance on SiriusXM The Jess Cagle Show May 2. She said she and the kids still sleep in her bed whenever Henchy is out of town.
“My younger daughter just turned 18. You know, the moment my husband is on any kind of business trip or away or something, you know, they still sleep in the bed with me,” she said. “We still watch rom-coms. They’re my babies and never will be.”
For more on Brooke Shields, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now, or subscribe here.
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