Eva Mendes on being stay-at-home mom: ‘Nobody told me it was gonna really be a job’

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As a mom of two, Eva Mendes is opening up about how motherhood hit her like nothing she had ever experienced.

The “Hitch” actress appeared on Kelly Clarkson’s new daytime talk show on Thursday and shared the struggles of being a stay-at-home mother to daughters Amada Lee, 3, and Esmeralda Amada, 5. Making the decision to take a break from her acting career to care for her kids, Mendes conceded, has been a lot more difficult that she and Ryan Gosling ever thought it would be.

Mendes, 45, said she thinks about her decision “every day” and said that it was impossible to prepare for the onslaught of emotion and responsibility she would have to take on in her new “way harder job,” as Clarkson put it.

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“People are so sweet – they really try to warn you, prep you, when you’re pregnant, but nobody can prep you. Nobody,” Mendes said of her new role.

“And nobody told me it was gonna really be a job. And a job that I needed an incredible amount of skill for, in different areas,” she continued. “A chauffeur, a cook, a personal assistant to an abusive boss.”

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Clarkson, 37, retorted, “They don’t appreciate it!” referencing her own daughters: River Rose, 5, and Remington Alexander, 3.

“No, they don’t! They’re not grateful!” said Mendes. “Oh my God, do they get grateful? Does that happen at some point?” she asked the audience.

Actors (L-R) Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling attend "The Place Beyond The Pines" premiere during the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival at Princess of Wales Theatre on Sept. 7, 2012 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Sonia Recchia/Getty Images) (2012 Getty Images)

Mendes said she wonders what qualifications are needed to raise a child, joking that she didn't have to take any exams to land her latest gig — working at home.

“In any other profession, you’d need to take a test or pass tests,” she said. “The only test I had to pass was a pregnancy test. That doesn’t seem fair, right?”

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The “Other Guys” actress said she and Gosling, 38, have similar parenting styles, which she admitted could be overbearing at times.

“We’re very controlling,” she said. “I think what the term is — we’re always laughing at these terms — I think we would be ‘bulldozing parents.’”

Mendes also told Clarkson that she has no problem being a “helicopter parent” simply due to her children’s ages.

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“We have to be on top of them every second,” she said. “What else are we supposed to do? The stakes are really high so yeah, I’m a helicopter parent,” she added. “And then I heard the bulldozing and I’m like, ‘Ooh, yeah, I’m probably a bulldozing parent too.’”

In July, the "Training Day" actress revealed that she and Gosling expanded their family by adopting a new pooch named Lucho.