The story of how Meg Ryan and Daisy found each other

If you haven’t noticed, one of America’s favorite romantic comedy actresses, Meg Ryan, 45, hasn’t been in your nearest movie theater since 2003’s Against the Ropes. But she has a good excuse: she’s been laying low and concentrating on raising Jack, 15, her son with ex-husband Dennis Quaid, and her 2-year-old daughter Daisy True, whom she adopted from China last year. Meg is back to work now though, with two new movies out this year, one being In the Land of Women. Meg sits down with Redbook magazine, where she talks about her kids and life as a single mother.

On raising a toddler: Although many moms find toddlers to be headstrong and difficult at times, Meg thinks Daisy is easy. She says, ‘Daisy doesn’t feel hard. She doesn’t feel like…there’s no sweat on it man. She’s a good hang, and she’s easy. She’s very smart and she’s very generous. I love that she’s funny. I love that. I just can’t imagine what it was like before she came. Life is good, it’s so good with her in it. She and Jack get along great. All of us fit together beautifully.’

On finding Daisy: Meg shares that in China, the adoption process includes a lottery system and Daisy was randomly assigned to her. Meg then immediately adds, ‘But that said, I am convinced, completely convinced that there was nothing random about it. She is the daughter I should have. I never felt like I was on a rescue mission or anything like that. I just really wanted a baby; I was on a mission to connect with somebody, and Daisy and I got to meet each other this way at this time. We are so compatible. And also having the experience of having had Jack and now to have Daisy in a different way — there’s no difference in the love you feel.’

Meg is also convinced that how she got Jack was just as much of a lottery: ‘Kids come into the world who they are. Jack is as different from me as Daisy is. Jack is different from his dad. He’s his own guy, and that’s how kids come, no matter how you get them. It’s just as much of a lottery with your own biological children as it is with an adopted child half the world away.’

In some ways, Meg thinks it’s easier being a single parent to Jack and Daisy: ‘I mean, Jack has his dad and they’re close, he’ll always have that. But when you’re the only one in the house with the kids, you get to be the one in charge. You’re the one making the rules. There’s no stress because you and some other adult don’t agree on how you want to raise your kids.’

Source: Redbook Magazine, May 2007 issue

Do you relate to anything Meg had to say?