Hilary Duff admits she’s currently “in the thick” of parenting but she’s surviving — and maybe thriving — thanks, in part, to her husband, Matthew Koma.
“Oh, [he’s] the best. Are you kidding?” Duff, 37, exclusively told Us Weekly of Koma, also 37, at the Baby2Baby Mother’s Day Celebration presented by Crate & Kids in Los Angeles on Thursday, May 8.
“My friends in town right now from Toronto, and I haven’t seen her for a year, and we wanted to get a workout in. So I was like, ‘We’re gonna do a 7 a.m. workout. You got the kids?’ And he’s like, ‘I’m on it. I got the kids.’ He packed lunches and made breakfast and got everybody dressed and drove them to school. Like, he’s in it.”
She added of the Winnetka Bowling League singer-songwriter, “He’s so hands-on, and then he’s also my best friend. We get in bed and just download information to each other at night, and it’s for fun. We’re really in the thick of it right now.”
Duff and Koma share three daughters, Banks, 6, Mae, 4, and Townes, 1, as well as her son Luca, 13, with ex-husband Mike Comrie.
“It’s pretty chaotic,” Duff said of her day-to-day life. “I’m an overworked mom. You know what I mean? I’m tired. I get into [bed] at night and I stare at the wall, like, ‘What’s happened to me? What was that like?’ But it’s everything that I love, and I wanted it. All of the moments that seem really hard are fleeting and they go by fast, and then you have the next thing in front of you. There’s so much joy layered in with all of the chaos. So it’s really fun.”
Duff admitted her house is “wild” with kids ranging from babies to teenagers, but she knows one day she’s going to look back and wish she could relive it all. Still, if she could have it her way, she’d be sipping wine on a float in a childless pool this Mother’s Day.
“One of my favorite Mother’s Day[s] I went away with my friends. I had breakfast with my kids in the morning and then we went to Palm Springs, swam and drank wine. And it was lovely. But this Mother’s Day I’m gonna be home. And my husband was like, ‘Is sleeping in the new flowers?’ And I was like, ‘Yes, please don’t spend money on flowers. I don’t need flowers. I want to sleep in. I want a card and I want to go out to a nice lunch.’ And so, I’m sure halfway through the lunch I’ll be like, ‘Why did we try to go out?’ But we’re gonna try. We’re gonna give it a fighting effort.”
Duff gave back to her L.A. community at the Baby2Baby event presented by Crate & Kids — which provided diapers, formula, hygiene products, clothing, groceries and other critical items to mothers and children who were impacted by January’s wildfires. The actress volunteered her time alongside the likes of Jordana Brewster to help distribute basic essentials to families and also shower moms with special gifts including skincare, robes, makeup, flowers, diaper bags and pampering experiences.
“I love Baby2Baby. They do such good work, all over the country — their reach is just so expansive. And the way that they get us involved, it’s just so rewarding, really,” Duff said of the nonprofit organization, which she’s been working with for nearly a decade. “Every time I get a call, I’m like, ‘If I can, I will, of course. I’m there.’ I love working with them. I love that you get to have contact with the actual mothers or families that are affected by whatever is going on. It just puts a lot into perspective and you always leave just feeling like you are so appreciative for your life, and appreciative for what they’re doing and their dedication to helping families.”
Duff was so impressed by all the mothers at the event who lost their homes in the Eaton fire in Southern California, yet still found the strength to keep going for their children and families.
“Getting to have little conversations with them,” she began, “It’s positive. It’s wild. It’s really wild. They’re all displaced. They all have little kids, multiple little kids, you know? And they’re like, ‘Well, this happened to my whole community,’ and they’re starting to see the light, and it’s really beautiful.”
She added, “I was just talking to someone about [how] you never really get a break when you’re a mom. You know what I mean? These moms have their kids dressed so nicely and they throw their hair up in a clip, and you could tell the mom is the last thought. You know? I’m always covered in stains. I try. I don’t know why I wear nice clothes anymore, but that’s just what it is. It’s not perfect. It’s real.”
“Motherhood is such a community, and it’s a wild ride. I’m grateful to be part of the crew,” Duff insisted.
With reporting by Rebecca Ray
