Life Lessons from TV Moms: Julianne Margulies’ ‘The Good Wife’ Character Alicia Florrick

CBS

Alicia Florrick (played by Julianna Margulies) from The Good Wife is and is not your typical TV mom. She might seem like your average matriarch at first glance: she’s a good provider, she’s always down for some homework help, and she listens with a fairly open mind. She’s pretty awesome and we don’t often see her losing her temper with Zach or Grace.

But then there’s this other side of her…

1. Sometimes, Your Kids Should See You as This Really Interesting Person Who Lives in Their House

Zach nailed it in this season’s 10th episode (“The Decision Tree”) when he cocked his head to the side, looked at Alicia and said, “Sometimes I think of you as Mom, and other times just as this interesting person who lives in our house.” This was in reaction to learning that his mom was the defense attorney to known drug kingpin Lemond Bishop. Zach honed in on what is, for many mothers, a truly important facet of the child/parent relationship. At some point you want your children to see you as an actual human being with actual interests and a life. This doesn’t mean that they need to see you at the club, dancing like a 22-year-old to Beyoncé’s “Drunk In Love” (there are very few circumstances where that would be beneficial). It just means that kids get a little thrill when they catch a glimpse of the world you exist in either in you your career or in your creative life.

2. A Little Mystery Goes a Long Way

Alicia’s not an open book mom, she’s not a friend mom. She’s a mom mom. Zach and Grace respect their mom in part because they know they don’t know everything about her — and they know that they probably never will. Even though her children know what she does, and they have some access to it, her personal life is shrouded in mystery.

3. Don’t Be Afraid to Get Gangsta, Where the Kids Are Concerned

We love Alicia because, while she’s calm for the most part she can turn into a lioness at any moment. Did you see the way she snatched her daughter out of the kitchen when Grace was going through that “hot” phase and every guy within a 20-mile radius could smell it (that was the episode when they were running Florrick Agos out of her house)? We saw a similar reaction when Eli got a little too close to Zach during Peter’s campaign. As composed as she usually is, when it comes to the kiddies, Alicia doesn’t play around. And for that, we thank her. And we kind of want to be her.

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