Celebrity Parents Leighton Meester Opens Up About How Motherhood Has Affected Her Career: 'Proud of the Mom I Am' The actress is mom to daughter Arlo and a son, whose name has not yet been revealed By Hannah Sacks Hannah Sacks Hannah Sacks is a writer/reporter for the Parents team at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since May 2023. Her work has previously appeared in The Toy Insider, The Toy Book, The Pop Insider, and Saratoga Living. People Editorial Guidelines Published on December 28, 2023 04:34PM EST Close Leighton Meester and Adam Brody at the "Fleishman is in Trouble" premiere in New York City. Photo: Noam Galai/Getty Leighton Meester is opening up about how being a mother has changed the trajectory of her life. While chatting with husband Adam Brody for Interview Magazine, the Gossip Girl alum, 37, was asked how motherhood affected her career. Meester and Brody, 44, share daughter Arlo, 8, and a son whose name has not yet been revealed. "It's inevitable that it's changed it, and we've had these conversations endlessly," Meester told her husband. "I wouldn't change anything and I'm proud of the mom I am." "But I also feel like I'm open to a lot of self-doubt and worry, and to more extreme hyper-vigilance and neurosis. So all I can do is take it a day at a time. But when I'm with the kids, our kids, I feel like all I can do is be present. Then when I'm working, I miss them like crazy." Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Adam Brody and Leighton Meester. Morgan Lieberman/FilmMagic Leighton Meester Talks Giving Kids 'All We Never Had' After Growing Up with Food Insecurity (Exclusive) "It's hard not to feel as a mom that you're not doing enough and I think that's always going to be reinforced by our society." The actress continued, revealed that her "sweet, canned answer" varied. "It gave me a lot of compassion, and this whole other level of appreciation for other people and a sensitivity that I don't think I ever had before. Particularly, when it comes to children. It's not like a regular job. You work for 3 months, nonstop, day and night, and then not at all for the rest of time. It's preferable," she adds, laughing. In August, Meester spoke with PEOPLE about how her parenting journey raising her two kids has "made me reflect on my own upbringing and childhood." "It's all just so intimate and private. It's something that I could never put into words, really. It's such an emotional journey to have children, and it certainly has made me reflect on my own upbringing and childhood," she told PEOPLE. "Having children, I want to give them all that we never had when we were growing up, but also to be candid and open about how grateful we should be for everything that we have." Adam Brody and Leighton Meester at the premiere of "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" on March 14, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Gilbert Flores/Variety/Getty Meester also revealed that she was getting the hang of back to school after "an interesting last handful of years." "To me, going back to school is great. My kids' birthdays are in the summer, so that's when they get the new clothing items that they can grow into versus all the stuff that's getting a little bit tired on them," she said. "It just shows that they're growing so much." "We get the school supplies, maybe a new backpack. We're definitely getting excited about going and seeing friends, the fun field trips and all the things that they'll learn," she continued. "For me, I definitely try to get organized and get excited and wrap my head around the new routine — waking up early or getting ready the night before, packing lunch and packing up the backpack. We get geared up as much as possible ahead of time." Laughing, she added, "For me growing up, the new school year was always like, 'This is the year I'm going to be cool.'"