Julia Roberts thinks it is "bittersweet" having to send her children to school.

The 'Eat Pray Love' actress - who has twins Hazel and Phinneaus, five, and three-year-old Henry with husband Danny Moder - is preparing for the oldest children to begin their education and admits she has mixed emotions about no longer having them with her all day every day.

She said: "Am I finding it hard? Yes and no. I think it's bittersweet, I'm sure, but I think for them, they don't want to go and Henry does wanna go!

"I'm in the middle."

Julia can soon be seen on the cover of America's Elle magazine, and is depicted in the image holding her eldest son.

Explaining how the image came about, she said: "He was just trying to talk to me at the photo shoot and I said, 'OK, take your shirt off and come sit next to me.' So he's just talking away about something he wanted to do later.

However, the actress admitted the twins are unaware of the cover.

She told US TV show 'Access Hollywood': "They haven't seen it, they won't even know it exists."