HGTV Fixer Upper star Joanna Gaines has been facing difficulties at home as she emotionally grapples with her son, Drake, being away at college.
She claims that as he moves onto the next phase of life, she feels like she’s ‘going through a midlife crisis.’
Joanna says her husband and home-renovating partner, Chip, has told her that she cries ‘all the time’ now.
The 45-year-old mom-of-five discusses her emotional turmoil on the podcast This Morning Walk.
HGTV Fixer Upper star Joanna Gaines has been facing difficulties in her own home as she emotionally grapples with her son, Drake, being away at college
Drake left for college this fall after graduating high school and while they hadn’t revealed which school he was attending, it was far enough for him to move out of the home
The mom-of-five claims that as her son moved onto the next phase of life, she felt like she was ‘going through a midlife crisis’
‘I feel like I’m going through a midlife crisis! Aren’t we all?’ Gaines told hosts Alex Elle and Libby Delana.
She revealed that her crisis had taken both herself and Chip, 49, by surprise.
‘I’m not super emotional — Chip is the emotional one — but I have turned into something he doesn’t understand now,’ she explained.
‘He’s like, “You cry all the time,” and I’m like, “I’m just making up for the 20 years that I have been unemotional!”‘
The HGTV star, however, has come to enjoy getting in touch with her vulnerable side.
‘There’s so much healing in not holding things in… Now I just love crying,’ she tells the podcast hosts. ‘It feels good to feel.’
Joanna shares that her emotions come from struggling with change, especially when it comes to her 18-year-old son.
‘I’ve always said I don’t like change…I have learned to exercise a muscle I didn’t know I had,’ she says.
The transition has been bittersweet for the mom of five, claiming, ‘It’s like holding sadness and joy all in one thing.’ Chip and Joanna are pictured here in 2016
While Drake has left the nest, Joanna and Chip still have four kids at home: Ella, 17, Duke, 15, Emmie, 13, and Crew, five
‘But my son leaves for college, that change is a different thing as a mother.’
The transition has been bittersweet for the mom of five, claiming, ‘It’s like holding sadness and joy all in one thing.’
Drake left for college this fall after graduating high school and while they haven’t revealed which school he was attending, it was far enough for him to move out of the home.
While Drake has left the nest, Joanna and Chip still have four kids at home: Ella, 17, Duke, 15, Emmie, 13, and Crew, five.
Joanna and Chip’s marriage has also been impacted by this big change.
The superstar couple admitted things were ‘shifting’ in their romance during a candid interview with People.
‘Jo and I are in this beautiful moment. We’re evolving into each other,’ Chip said. ‘It’s the second part of our marriage.’
As their kids grow older, Joanna and Chip have wondered if the kids are going to follow in their footsteps and pursue home renovating
Joanna chimed in with, ‘I would say, as we’re getting older, I’m shifting and I’m more like Chip, and Chip is more like me,’ before adding, ‘We just see life differently now.’
In fact, having each other is what has helped them get through this change.
‘I think that’s the beauty of relationships in general. If Chip weren’t my partner, I would probably still be in the corner,’ Joanna admitted.
‘From the moment I met him, he’s always experienced change in a positive way. Even if it was negative, it was, “All right. What do we do next?”‘
She added, ‘We’ve had so much change in our lives, and the proof is there: Change is hard, but it’s always beautiful.’
As their kids grow older, Joanna and Chip have wondered if the children were going to follow in their footsteps and pursue home renovating.
‘Obviously at some point it’d be so fun to have one or two of our kids work with us, but that’s definitely not what we’re saying out loud to them,’ Joanna said.
‘Chip is really good at saying, “You need your own identity. When you’re finished with college, go do some stuff on your own. Learn some stuff. And then if you want to come back years later and teach us, we’re here.”‘