Nicole Kidman Admits Her Kids Are Her Toughest Critics: “They Keep You Engaged!”

Throughout her 35-year career, Nicole Kidman has faced her fair share of critics, but she’s realizing some of her toughest — daughters Sunday, 9, and Faith, 7 — live right under her roof. In the newest issue of Tatler Magazine, Nicole confessed that her kids are having their own growing opinions of how she should look. “My little one will say, ‘Please don’t wear your workout stuff to school this morning. Please blow-dry your hair. Please wear some makeup,'” Nicole said. “I mean, that’s hard truth right there!”

The 51-year-old actress, though, is at peace with any critiques coming from her pint-size fashion police because “children keep you young,” she insisted to Magic FM. “There’s something true about their life force. They keep you engaged and they bring joy.”

Since she and husband Keith Urban, 50, were both in their 40s when they welcomed their first daughter, so staying “healthy and vibrant” for Sunday and Faith is a top priority. “I want to be able to take care of them. That’s a big part of it when you have children when you’re older,” she told Tatler.

The Big Little Lies star always knew she was destined for motherhood, although she recently opened up about the pain she and first husband Tom Cruise endured after she had both an ectopic pregnancy and a miscarriage. The couple later adopted Isabella Cruise, 25, and Connor Cruise, 23. “Whether you’re an adoptive mother, a foster mother, or a biological mother,” Nicole has insisted of finally realizing her dream, “it’s the emotion of attaching to a child and helping guide them [that’s important].”

Now her daughters with Keith help ground her as she deals with the stresses of her career. “There’s no better way of getting over a tough day than walking through the door and being brought back to earth by the demands of your family,” she has said. “While I’m thinking, ‘God, I feel like I can’t even go on,’ I have two little girls standing there, asking, ‘What’s for breakfast?’ That is a gift for me.”

Nicole’s gift to her daughters in return? “She’s an extraordinary mom,” Keith raved to OneCountry. “Those girls are very, very lucky. Her attention to honoring their feelings and listening to them right from day one is really beautiful to see.” Now that the girls are getting older and both are in school, Nicole has found she has a little more time to focus on her work. Still, if she is called away on location for any length of time, she struggles.

“I miss them so much,” she admitted to Harpers Bazaar. “I get 3 a.m. panics because I’m so attached!” She’s less attached these days to industry awards, like the recent Emmy and Golden Globe statues she won for her work on Big Little Lies.

“I told my oldest, ‘You can put this on your shelf,’ but she said, ‘I don’t want that,'” Nicole said, genuinely tickled by Sunday’s dose of brutal honesty. “You don’t want some trophy your mom’s won sitting up there. I totally get it!”

For more on Nicole Kidman, pick up the latest issue of Closer Weekly, on newsstands now — and be sure to sign up for our newsletter!