Jodie Sweetin: “Life is always going to present you with stuff that is challenging”

Jodie Sweetin was five when she first played Stephanie Tanner on Full House. Now, 30 years later, the mother of daughters Zoie, 9, and Beatrix, 7, has reunited with her TV family on the sitcom’s sequel, Fuller House.

We were so fortunate to have such a warm family environment on the show that we grew up on. We had great examples set for us on what that should look like.

We really get to do that with the kids on our show. We spend time with them outside of just shooting the show. Elias Harger, who plays Max, and his family are close with my girls. They all came to my daughters’ birthday parties, and they come over for swim parties. We had that growing up—Candace, Andrea and myself—and to have that with the kids on the show now is just great.

My daughters think it’s cool that their mom is on TV. But at the end of the day, I’m Mom, so the coolness factor wears off when I tell them to go to their rooms and do their homework. They often wish I was home more. When I’m travelling, they’re like, “I thought Fuller House was over for the season! Why are you still working?” They’ve got their iPads, so we text back and forth and FaceTime.

One of the biggest things I do every day is look at the things I’m grateful for. Some days are easier than others because we all have rough days, but going about my life with gratitude has really changed my perspective. When you have that attitude about things, it makes life so much easier to deal with.

I journal a lot when I’m travelling because I have more time to myself. But some days, it’s in the car and I’m listing off things. I try to do it with my girls too, sitting around having dinner. What good things happened today? What top three things are you grateful for?

Whether you’re a parent in recovery or a single mom, life is always going to present you with stuff that’s challenging. There are just so many things that life throws at you. What I’ve learned is that it comes and it goes. There are good days and bad days. But if you get up every day and you go into everything with a positive attitude, it changes your perspective.

The second half of Fuller House season three will be on Netflix Dec. 22.

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