Rachel Bilson Reveals the Heartbreaking Question Her Daughter Briar Asked That Made Her Feel ‘So Bad’

Just when you think you’re doing pretty good on this whole parenting thing, your kid will say something to make your self-esteem come crashing down. Leave it to kids to hit us right where it hurts! Rachel Bilson opened up about one recent time with her daughter Briar Rose, who she shares with ex Hayden Christensen. Bilson’s 9-year-old asked her a heartbreaking question that made her feel “so bad” during a recent Target run, and all moms have been there.

It all started when the Hart of Dixie alum admitted she was feeling “so grumpy” after a long day on the Aug. 26 episode of her podcast, Broad Ideas with Rachel Bilson & Olivia Allen, per PEOPLE. Still, she took her daughter on a shopping trip because that’s what moms do — we don’t let something that’s bothering us get in the way of taking care of our families or even spending quality time with our kids. Unfortunately for Bilson, though, her daughter picked up on her low mood.

Bilson admitted she “felt so bad” when her daughter asked her, “Mom, are you happy doing this? Because you normally love Target.” Her daughter added, “You normally love this and you don’t seem happy.”

Oof — talk about a gut punch! The same exact thing has happened to me before, with my kids asking me if I felt OK or was unhappy with them because I “wasn’t smiling.” It’s a great opportunity to talk to them about emotions and feelings, as well as to reinforce that it’s OK not to be happy all the time. It’s also important to remind our kids that we aren’t upset because of them, which is exactly what Bilson did. “And I just told her, I was like, ‘Oh honey, no. I love this. I love doing this with you. I’m just tired,’” she recalled.

The O.C. alum also revealed that her daughter hardly ever throws fits. “Bry’s definitely a different kid than I was,” she said on the podcast. “Like, 100%. I almost feel weird talking about it with other parents because she doesn’t throw fits. It’s just … it’s not how she is.” She added, “She really is that way and she’s so kind and it’s just her inner being. But I find myself if there’s the littlest of, like, ‘Oh, but I really wanted to do that,’ it just throws me.”

However, Briar is still a kid, and getting mad at your mom is basically a rite of passage. Like last summer, when Briar was frustrated that her mom made her leave Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour early. “Briar’s friend Aria danced her ass off to ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’ — she was feeling it — and then just turned around, sat in her seat and passed out. Everyone around us was laughing because it was so cute,” Bilson said on an August episode of her podcast. “Briar wanted to stay until the end but her two friends were just done. So we left early. Briar was mad about that. She was so mad.” Poor girl!

In an interview with SheKnows in November, Bilson revealed her daughter inspires her every day at work. “When she’s of age and much, much older she can maybe see ‘Oh, my mom had the confidence to stand up for what she believes in,’” Bilson told us.

“Everything is for her. My life is her,” she added.

These celebrities are focused on raising their kids to be good humans.