Before she became a mom, Maggie Gyllenhaal thought she would be the picture perfect parent.

"I used to be judgmental of the way other people would parent," the 34-year-old actress admitted to Scholastic Parent & Child's magazine in the August/September issue.

But the birth of her now 5 ½ daughter, Ramona, changed her entire perception of parenting.

Before she had Ramona, "I would look at someone talking on a cell phone while her baby was asleep in a stroller and think, 'How can that mother have her cell phone out?'"

Once she realized how little babies sleep, she started breaking her pre-parenthood rules. "Then you actually have a baby and you're like, she's sleeping; I have 10 minutes; I'll make three phone calls," she told Scholastic Parent & Child's magazine. "I think so much of my judgment - not only about how people parent, but about people in general - went away when I became a mom."

Her and her husband Peter Sarsgaard recently had another daughter together: 4-month-old Gloria Ray.

With some mothering experience behind her, Gyllenhaal has more realistic expectations of herself.

"I was 28 when Ramona was born, and I had this idea that I think a lot of people in their twenties have, that I was supposed to do it perfectly. At least, if not perfectly, then exceptionally well," she said. "I've realized that that isn't possible and that part of being a human is making mistakes - and making lots of them."

When asked what her favorite aspect of parenting was, Gyllenhaal said she enjoyed being friends with her daughter Ramona and watching her mind develop. "But the fun part is being with this little person and learning about the world and listening to her questions," she told the magazine. "When we talk, she talks like a person. She knows the words that she needs. She'll ask me if she doesn't. I like that."

In Gyllenhaal's upcoming film, "Won't Back Down," (opening Sept. 28) she plays a single mom who joins forces with a teacher to reform their failing school.

The star said she believes a quality education is "one of the most important gifts you can give your kids."

However, she might have a tough time tackling her daughters' math homework.

"Besides literature, I liked history. I had trouble with math, though," Gyllenhaal said. "I kind of faked my way through it. I don't know how I'm going to help my daughters with it when the time comes."

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