Eva Mendes' Cutest Parenting Quotes About Her 2 Daughters

Eva Mendes has made it her main priority to protect her two daughters from the spotlight, so it’s not often that fans spot Esmeralda and Amada. However, the Hitch actress opens up about her children every now and then, and when that happens, she always has the sweetest and most inspiring things to say.

Eva is the mom of her little girls alongside longtime partner Ryan Gosling. Though the two sparked engagement rumors when the Ghost Rider alum flashed a huge diamond on her ring finger during a family hike in late January 2021, Eva and the Notebook actor have yet to confirm whether they tied the knot.

Still, the lovebirds — who started dating in 2011 — have been going strong ever since. Three years after they became a couple, the brunette beauty and Ryan experienced parenthood together when Esmeralda was born in September 2014. Their youngest, Amada, arrived two years later in April 2016.

Like other moms, Eva deals with the regular ups and downs that come along with parenthood. “Nobody told me it was really going to be a job, and a job I would need an incredible amount of skill for,” she jokingly told host Kelly Clarkson during an appearance on the singer’s talk show in October 2019.

“[I’m] a chauffeur, a cook, a personal assistant to an abusive boss,” Eva hilariously continued at the time. “They’re not grateful. Any other profession you would need to pass a test, but the only test I had to pass was a pregnancy test. That doesn’t seem fair.”

Despite how difficult it can be at times, the Place Beyond the Pines actress couldn’t imagine what her life would be like without Esmeralda and Amada in it. “They definitely come with their own stuff and it’s pretty great,” Eva marveled to E! News in September 2016. “I feel like my job is just to get out of their way, and protect them, but let them be who they are.”

The 2 Fast 2 Furious alum has been feeling extra thankful for her daughters, as well as her handsome beau, amid the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. At the time COVID-19 became widespread in the U.S. in early 2020, Eva and Ryan were quarantined at their home with their daughters and did everything could to keep “them busy” and avoid “boredom.”

“That’s their No. 1 goal,” an insider told Closer Weekly in April 2020. “Ryan and Eva are really enjoying this timeout from the world. They’re all about family time and spending it with Esmeralda and Amada.”

Keep scrolling to see some of Eva’s cutest quotes about parenting her little girls!

On Designating Time for Her Kids

“I haven’t posted lately because my little one told me I was on the phone too much. I could tell she was taking it personally. And she’s a kid, of course she’d take it personally,” Eva wrote on Instagram in January 2021. “They take things personally unless we go out of our way to make it clear to them it’s not personal. So we had [a] good talk, I apologized and I promised her I’d be mindful. I realized that just because I’m always home with them doesn’t mean I’m always present.”

On Her Thoughts About Having a Nanny

“I’m doing it without a nanny for now, but I’m open to the idea of having a nanny in the future. Esmeralda has two amazing grandmothers and incredible aunties who come over and really help me,” Eva told Violet Grey in 2014. “But as far as a nanny or a night nurse, for me, that part of being a mother at this early stage is the struggle of not being able to sleep and not knowing what I’m doing and really going through it with her and battling out those nights.”

On Teaching Her Kids About Her Culture

“We’re constantly playing Cuban music. I speak to them in Spanish, and my mom speaks to Esmeralda in Spanish. Well, now she speaks to both of them in Spanish,” the actress once told Latina. “Any time I have an opportunity to introduce her or them — I have to say ‘them’ now, though my newborn just sleeps all the time — to my culture, whether it’s through music or through food, I do. That is a main priority, for sure.”

On Looking to Others for Advice

“Yes. I try not to Google too many things because it is frightening but I do go to babycenter.com and read the comment sections from other mothers because I find so much solace in that,” she told Violet Grey. “Just knowing that I’m not alone out there and that other moms have gone through the same thing can at least get me through the night.”

On Guarding Her Kids’ Privacy

“I have always had a clear boundary when it comes to my man and my kids. I’ll talk about them of course, with limits, but I won’t post pictures of our daily life,” she wrote on Instagram in April 2020. “Since my children are still so little and don’t understand what posting their image really means, I don’t have their consent. And I won’t post their image until they’re old enough to give me consent.”

On Raising Strong Girls

“My two little girls are already these two little self-empowered little women … I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, I need to get out of the way and you guys lead,’” Eva sweetly shared while attending an event in February 2020. “Obviously [I] protect them, but I just want to get out of their way because they’re already these amazing creative beings. I take great inspiration from them as well.”