Jennifer Garner was an obsessive parent

Jennifer Garner used to be an ''obsessive'' mother.

The 40-year-old actress - who has children Violet, six, Seraphina, three, and six-month-old Samuel with husband Ben Affleck - identifies with the character she plays in new movie 'The Odd Life of Timothy Green' because she was so ''neurotic'' when she became a parent for the first time.

She said: ''My parenting style evolves all the time. With my first child I was a little more like Cindy Green in this movie, who is just obsessively trying to make sure her child is happy at every moment and always trying to control his environment and make sure he has everything he might possibly need.

''I was just a little bit neurotic as many first-time moms can be.''

However, Jennifer says she has now learned to ''chill out'' and takes a much more relaxed approach to family life these days.

She told Fox 411's Pop Tarts column: ''You learn to let go of some of that, when you are working the hardest sometimes you are making it the hardest for your child too, and you just chill out a bit.

''I went from having a diaper bag packed with fifteen diapers, and ten changes of clothes and every kind of rash cream to throwing a diaper in my purse and being like, 'Yeah, we will figure out the rest. It's good.'''

And the former 'Alias' actress admits she can't help but boast about her children to anyone who will listen.

She said: ''I brag to my mom, and my girlfriends and I all talk about kids. We're all proud of them.''