Ryan Reynolds praised Blake Lively's parenting during the COVID-19 pandemic in a new interview on the "Smartless" podcast (opens in new tab) hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett He said. Reynolds shared the difficulties of parenting 6-year-old James, 4-year-old Inez, and 1-year-old Betty during their incarceration and the challenges that homeschooling brings.

"I realize that I am not one of the millions or tens of millions of people who were living at home, living paycheck to paycheck, in a state of abject panic during the pandemic," Reynolds began. 'I'm lucky.'

He went on to say that he had a "tough" time during the lockdown, as did his children James, Inez, and Betty. Of homeschooling, he said, "I was looking for outside help left, right, and center. So I was reading books and trying to figure out how to steer the ship."

"Blake was much better than me. I'm a kid too," Reynolds added. He also spoke of his own coping strategies: "I did a lot of writing. I started practicing meditation."

In the same interview, Reynolds discussed the beginning of his relationship with Lively. He said, "Blake and I met in 'Green Lantern,' the darkest crease in the anus of the universe."

"We hung out, we were always in touch, kind of casually," he continued. 'She was going to Boston, and I was going to Boston. We got on the train together, and then I asked her to sleep with me."

Reynolds said he knew immediately that Lively was the one, and compared their relationship to a "fairy tale.""A week later," he said (perhaps exaggerating a bit for comedic effect), "I thought, 'Let's buy a house together.' And we did."