Charlize Theron Jokingly Says Motherhood Makes Her Feel Like She ‘Drank Too Many Vodkas’

Mom-of-two Charlize Theron isn’t afraid to tell the world how hard it is to be a working single mom in Hollywood. When Charlize recently appeared at the 25th ELLE Women in Hollywood Celebration in LA on Monday, Oct. 15, she told the event’s audience that raising her two kids — Jackson, 6, and August, 2 — is a lot of hard work.

“I feel like a tired mom who drank too many vodkas. This is late for me!” she joked while accepting an honor before adding that she needed to get some sleep, according to Us Weekly.

Since Charlize’s mom, Gerda Maritz, helps her raise her two kids, the 43-year-old actress gave her mom a quick shout-out during her speech. “My mom is here with me tonight,” Charlize said while looking out into the crowd. “She is the one who deserves the Icon Award. Thank you for teaching me that I have value.”

Once Charlize adopted Jackson in 2012 and August in 2015, she realized that being a single mom is a lot harder than it seems. In a previous interview with Elle, she credited Gerda for always being the support system that she needs. “I have bad days. I make mistakes,” she explained. “I knew that I would [need] to have my mom help me if I was going to do this as a single parent. To not acknowledge her in co-parenting would be a lie. I’m so lucky to have that.”

Raising kids can be hard, but Charlize wouldn’t trade motherhood for anything. “I had a strong need to be a mom,” the Tully actress explained about adopting her kids. “It’s a lot for one person. But after six years of having my two nuggets, there’s not a day when I wish I hadn’t done this.”