Reese Witherspoon Gets into the Holiday Spirit with Her Children

Los Angeles: Hollywood actress Reese Witherspoon is embracing the festive season by spending quality time with her children. The *Big Little Lies* star recently shared a series of Instagram photos featuring herself alongside each of her kids.

In one picture, the 49-year-old actress and her daughter Ava Phillippe, 26, appeared almost identical as they posed in coordinated black and metallic outfits. Another photo showed Witherspoon smiling warmly beside her son Deacon Phillippe, 22. Witherspoon shares Ava and Deacon with her former husband, actor Ryan Phillippe.

The post, captioned “Making Merry,” also included a rare appearance by her youngest son, Tennessee James Toth, 13, whom she shares with ex-husband Jim Toth.

According to *People* magazine, the festive photo collection also showcased a charcuterie board, a beautifully decorated Christmas tree, and an elaborate gingerbread house. Witherspoon was also seen wearing a Christmas jumper and denim jeans while posing with her mother, Betty, in a setting surrounded by airplanes. The actress further shared a snapshot from a shopping outing with longtime friend and co-star Laura Dern.

Reposting the images to her Instagram Stories, Witherspoon added to the holiday cheer by setting them to the tune of “Jingle Bells” by Peaceful Reveries.

The festive family post comes just weeks after Witherspoon spoke candidly about her struggle with depression following the birth of her daughter Ava in 1999, when she was 23. In an interview with *Harper’s Bazaar*, she recalled, “It was really bad. In the first six months, I was simultaneously happy and depressed. I just cried all the time, I was up all night, I was exhausted.”

The actress and Hello Sunshine founder said the experience was compounded by the pressure of external opinions, which eventually led her to seek help from a mental health professional.

“It’s hard being a young mom and having people tell you how to be, how to react, how to give birth, how to nurse and how to feed your baby. It’s inundating,” she added.

—With inputs from IANS