Jennifer Garner Picks Up Her Little Flower

Gavin V/MOF/Bauer Griffin

A soon-to-be-due Jennifer Garner picked up daughter Violet Anne, 3, from preschool on Tuesday, clutching a note from her little girl. It mentioned welcoming her mama to school — which Violet was excited about, writing, "cuz I love her!"

Baby number two — and Violet’s new little sibling! — is expected for Jen and husband Ben Affleck in the coming weeks. Want to see more of this expanding family? Take a peek at our Garner-Affleck Family Gallery!

Comments

countdown to the why is she holding her comments… i love seeing her hold her! reminds me of my pregnant days holding my three year old. i wonder what jen is having… wonder if boy rumor is true.

- lele on December 11th, 2008

Oh,how sweet is Violet!I love her expression in this pic,but she looks scared!Maybe by the paparazzi?This is the reson because Jen carries her and I completely understand it.Can’t wait for the new baby!

- SARA on December 11th, 2008

LOL….is that Violet’s handwriting?…must say it’s better than mine!

- Jade on December 11th, 2008

I love the note from Violet that Jen is holding. I’m a jaded celeb watcher, but Jen is one of my faves.

- Hammer on December 11th, 2008

Something tells me a 3 year old did not hand write that note…

- Ashley on December 11th, 2008

I dont think that’s a 3 year old’s handwritten note. It looks rather like the teacher wrote it on her behalf.

- Nikka on December 11th, 2008

Violet is so cute!!! Her hair is getting so long. I love the pigtails.

Looking at the picture, you can tell she loves her mama very much.

- jashmom on December 11th, 2008

I don’t think thats her handwriting but it is funny … i guess parents arent allowed in until after the goodbye song!
She seems like such a sweet child.

- Alexis on December 11th, 2008

No offense, but I doubt this is Violet’s writing. Teachers sometimes write down words for the kids as for example a Happy Mother’s Day greeting card or something similar… ;o) It very sweet! Something to remember for sure and I still got one of those on the fridge! Very cute picture! And I have to agree with SARA on Jen carrying Violet when the paps are around and we all know here that they are probably waiting outside school EVERY day to catch a picture.

- Nancy on December 11th, 2008

It’s not her handwriting she just turned three, she probably told them what to write.

- Robyn on December 11th, 2008

Wow…she’s due in a few weeks? She looks great!

- Born Fab on December 11th, 2008

I have a 4 yr old who is just starting to write stuff and her handwriting is crazy and all over the place. I do not think that’s a handwritten note from Violet but rather a note that the techer wrote for her. lol It’s very sweet though!

- Heather on December 11th, 2008

I wish the teacher had written because instead of ‘cus

- L on December 11th, 2008

I don’t understand why the paparazzi take pictures everyday of violet going or leaving school. How many pictures of the same child do they need, it’s not like her looks change from one day to another and it’s not like we haven’t seen her constantly since she was very young. If it was a celebrity child we don’t see much, I can understand it, but it’s just so weird. I love this family though, and hope the boy rumor is true. Can’t wait to hear what they name their next baby.

- gianna on December 11th, 2008

Violet is such a beautiful little mini-Jen. Can’t wait to hears news of the new sibling.

- terri on December 11th, 2008

That note is sooo sweet. It melted my heart! Violet, as always, looks adorable.

- Stephany on December 11th, 2008

I can’t wait til she delivers! I’m hoping boy but I wouldn’t mind another girl either.

- Kelly on December 11th, 2008

Violet probably said “Cuz” and not because and it is important to catch language as is even if not technically proper grammar.

- JC on December 11th, 2008

Vi and Jen are so adorable! I love them so much. Everyday I check for news of the new baby. I can’t wait!

- Rosy J on December 11th, 2008

The note is very sweet. I am an elementary school teacher, and I have a feeling that Violet REALLY wanted her mommy to come in early to pick her up, and the teacher used writing a letter to her mommy as a way to put Violet off. SMART! It’s definitely something I would do with a child upset and wanting her mommy before the school day was up

- Mrs. R. on December 11th, 2008

JC – I understand what you’re saying about the ‘cuz’, but I completely disagree. My mother was a nursery director for many years and one of their rules was to always always use correct language with a child, both spoken and written. It is never too early to to start subtley teaching a child the correct ways, and clearly if Violet said this word, she would’ve meant ‘because’ so this is what should’ve been written. Perhaps different nurseries have different rules, but I would definately have spoken to the teachers if my daughter had been taught text language and not proper spelling. It might not seem like a big deal, but as soon as she starts ‘big school’, she will be taught this kind of thing and there is no real reason to be spelling incorrectly like this. I don’t mean to be dramatic about this, because it is a small detail, but it is odd that the teachers wouldn’t use the correct spelling.

- phoebe on December 11th, 2008

LOL… I was a 3 y/o Preschool teacher for years. She didn’t write the note. We did that sometimes to get the child’s mind off the parents. Makes them feel a bit better after saying goodbye. Those are Violet’s thoughts though. What a sweetie!!! I would have loved to have had the honor of teaching that adorable cutie!

- Margaret on December 11th, 2008

I teach Preschool (0-5 years), and children will often want me to write notes etc to parents, telling them about their day. Of course, if the children are old enough, I encourage them to write it themselves . That note in Jen’s hand, brings back deja vu!

- Maddie on December 11th, 2008

Does this child EVER walk??

- Miss S on December 11th, 2008

In almost every picture I see of this child, she is her mama’s mini-me….but in this pic, I see a little bit of her daddy. Maybe it’s the expression. She is adorable though, and I love seeing pics of her. I agree with the comment that we don’t need to see pics of her every single day. The paps need to give them a break!

- CTBmom on December 11th, 2008

My husband is a FedEx driver in the part of Santa Monica where Violet attends preschool. He says that often the alley located near the school is completely congested with paparazzi. Not only are they basically harassing this family (and any other celeb families at this school), but making it difficult for regular folk to do their jobs. Really, it is a bad situation for all.

- jenny on December 11th, 2008

“clutching a note from her little girl” – it doesn’t say that Violet wrote the letter. I worked in a preschool and we used special upcoming events (as did my daughter’s preschool classes as well) for the children to “write” a special note to their parent (and I use the word “write” loosely) telling them how their feeling about the event or what they think is going to happen in the event.
It was the students words but just wrote by the teacher r a little bite of encouragement from the teacher to help get the child started on what to say, because at this age most children can’t write let alone write a whole letter. Very cute letter from Violet also (well what I can read of it).
Violets getting so big. I can’t believe how much she has changed. I can’t wait until the new arrival comes.

- Bancie1031 on December 11th, 2008

Aww! Violet is so adorable!

You know, I usually think Violet looks like Jen most of the time, but I think she looks a lot like Ben in this picture!

- Chelsea on December 11th, 2008

A teacher wrote a note with “cuz”?! That would be a red flag to pull my kid from that school.
Jennifer Garner is one of my favorite actresses! )

- Terri on December 11th, 2008

Phoebe you’re correct. I’m a teacher too and I am appalled that my middle school kids still have trouble spelling easy words. We were always corrected growing up and this new whole language (don’t correct spelling because it lowers their self esteem) is appalling and such a disservice to the parents, students and society.

- Terri on December 11th, 2008

Can you please tell me why CBB continues to purchase photos of this child outside her pre-school?!?!?!?! Surely there is a limit????

- Missb on December 11th, 2008

I wonder if she gets sick of the paps snapping pics of her every darn day. I mean, I see more of Jen and Violet than I do anyone else. It must get old.

- Amber on December 11th, 2008

I don’t get the big deal about the whole because/Cuz thing, she’s a kid, if she said cuz instead of because then how does anyone know that the teacher didn’t correct her but wrote it how she said it because it is more personal that way, looking through old letters when from when I was a kid I had tons of spelling and grammar mistakes but my grammar now is just fine and my best subject through school was English language!

- .x.drh.x. on December 11th, 2008

The note is sweet but I agree that the teacher should have used the right spelling.

- Sarita on December 11th, 2008

Now, come on: we all know a 3-year-old did not write that note!

- Lily on December 11th, 2008

come on very one, the only reason we’re seeing pictures of Violet and Jennifer so much right now is because she’s pregnant. She doesn’t let the fact that the paps follow her and she’s preggers out of doing the normal for her.
The reason we get so many pictures of her taking Violet to and from school is because it’s guaranteed pretty much.
How is everyone going to complain “I’m getting tired of seeing Violet” ….. we see almost as many pictures of Suri ……
And I personally like seeing both.

- Bancie1031 on December 11th, 2008

It’s possible it wasn’t the teacher that wrote the note. It could have been a teacher’s assistant or a parent volunteer. I wouldn’t view the word “cuz” as evidence the preschool is a bad school.

- Angel on December 11th, 2008

Either way, it’s still very cute

And about her carrying Violet…Brad Pitt recently defended his own comments about him carrying Zahara everywhere, it’s in the new Rolling Stone interview..and he said something like

“I was out trick or treating with my kids in L.A, and I was out with my daughter and this woman comes up to me and says “I always see you carrying her in pictures (in magazines), you need to put her down!” and Brad Pitt said, “That’s because everytime you see me in a magazine, we’re being chased by 20 paparazzi/cars, so you really don’t know what you’re talking about”

- Mia on December 12th, 2008

Bancie,
I don’t seeing anyone complaining about seeing so many pics of Violet. Just that with all these pics, it means that the paps are camped out at Violet’s school EVERY day, and it’s too much. Give the Affleck family some space. Take pics of Violet at school once a month…heck, even once a week would be better then the paps being there EVERY single day. As much as I love seeing pics of celebrities and their kids, I feel bad for them sometimes.

- CTBmom on December 12th, 2008

I can’t believe there are people who think the teacher writing “cuz” is a reason to pull a child out of a preschool. Get a grip, it’s preschool, not 8th grade. This is becoming the age of hyper-parenting, where people blow every tiny little thing out of proportion and act like a child will be damaged if every little thing isn’t done a certain way. The child is only 3 years old, I highly doubt that it’s going to affect her long term is she is allowed to use words like cuz instead of because.

Besides, preschool for 3 year olds doesn’t need to be anything more than playing and having fun and learning to socialize. Children don’t have to have information crammed into their heads every minute of the day in order to turn into productive, intelligent adults. I think some of today’s parents need to take a deep breath, look at the big picture, realize that children don’t have to have enriching experiences 24/7 in order to turn into intelligent adults and just relax.

- Sarah on December 12th, 2008

As an elementary school teacher, I can say that yes, if that child was in grade primary or above, I would correct the spelling. However, given that it’s obviously a note transcribed from what Violet (who is 3, remember) said, I think leaving the “cuz” in is cute, and adds to the note.
Also wanted to say that those saying they would pull their kid out of that school because of “cuz”… you were being sarcastic, right? Parents that do things as drastic as that…well, I don’t think you’re doing your child any favours by reacting that drastically! haha

- aurora on December 12th, 2008

Sarah, I think if people genuinely feel that they would pull a child out of nursery for that kind of thing, it’s taking it too far, but that is still against the rules in most nurseries, I think that’s why people (myself included) were surprised that was written. Like I said, it’s never too early to teach a child proper language, and I would definately not be happy if a teacher had written that with my child at Violet’s age. It’s bad enough getting children to stop using text language without their outside carers writing it down with them. This is not a huge issue that needs to be taken to the extreme, but it wouldn’t take much for the teacher to have written the correct word. You’re right, this time of life should be about playing, I’m very much an advocate of that as children grow up fast enough as it is, but there was no reason to use lazy language (as my mum calls it). My daughter has all the time in the world to pick up bad grammar habits when she is older, but I would like her to learn the correct way first, if only so she knows the difference, and it’s never too early to do that. I think it’s a wonderful thing that the teacher wrote the letter with Violet, and such a cute thing for Jennifer to have to keep, I just find it a lazy oversight to not use the correct grammar.

- phoebe on December 12th, 2008

Sarah I guess different people view education differently. If it were me, yes I’d have a talk with the teacher or pull them out or the school. Why? Because in preschool I was already reading and writing and maybe my child will do the same at age 3 and 4. I’d like them to get used to seeing words spelled correctly. You are obviously not well versed on the new “don’t correct their spelling because it hurts their self esteem” language program that is being taught in the PRIMARY and SECONDARY grades now. This is not just a preschool thing but it carries into public schools (and private) as well. I have 6th graders that can’t spell simple words because no one corrected them early on. So to you it’s “no big deal” but to me education is very important.

- Terri on December 12th, 2008

I wonder how Violet is gonna react when her sibling is born? She gets all of the attention….I guess we will see!

- Jasmine C. on December 13th, 2008

Terri: Actually I am aware that some schools do that. But I still don’t think it’s the same thing when we’re talking about preschool. I would be upset if my kid was 10 and the teacher was still letting them spell things incorrectly. But not at 3.

- Sarah on December 13th, 2008

I see nothing wrong with a teacher writing a note that long for a barely-turned-three year old! Sure, at her age she could be ready to start writing letters and words, but something that long and complicated is going to be nearly impossible for a kid that age. Remember, Vi isn’t pushing four, she’s barely three! At her age, preschool is more about the social learning than book learning.

And I see nothing wrong with “cuz,” though I would have written it “’cause,” but the teacher probably just wanted to shorten it – imagine the writer’s cramp she got writing those out for all the kids!

- Molly on December 15th, 2008