As the holidays approach, Reese Witherspoon faces a dilemma familiar to countless divorced parents - how to share custody of her young children on those special days.

“I think the most important thing is to be a grownup,” she says, “and not let any kind of feelings affect how you deal with your children.”

For the mother-of-two - who finalized her divorce from Ryan Phillippe in June - that means having “a lot of communication” with her ex-husband and “just being very open.”

Parenting Skills

In the film, Witherspoon plays the daughter of divorced parents who, at first, lacks any parenting skills. Could Witherspoon relate?

“When I first held my baby, Ava, %26#91;that%26#93; was the first time I’d ever held a baby in my life,” she said. “So I understand that sort of fear or not being a good mom. It took me a long time to feel really comfortable in the role of being a mother.” (In addition to Ava, now 9, Witherspoon and Phillippe also have a son, Deacon, 5.)

As for marriage, “I %26#91;had%26#93; a certain idea what I thought marriage gives,” says the actress - who’s now dating Jake Gyllenhaal, 27. But “sometimes it doesn’t work out that way so you have to be open to whatever comes your way in life. … Love and relationships take all kinds of shapes and it’s not necessarily the ones you recognize.”

So, would she ever get married again? “I don’t know,” she says, laughing. “I don’t think about it much.”

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Naomi Foner - the mother of Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal - has filed for divorce from their father, Stephen Gyllenhaal, Los Angeles court papers show.

Married for 30 years, Foner - a Golden-Globe winning screenwriter with credits including Running on Empty and Losing Isaiah - cites irreconcilable differences. She says the couple has been separated since Jan. 1.

Foner isn’t seeking spousal support, and she also asks the court to deny Gyllenhaal - a film director - any support.

The papers were filed Wednesday.

- Ken Lee

Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal have taken their romance overseas: The couple were spotted stepping out together in Morocco over the weekend.

On Saturday, the pair strolled hand-in-hand, checking out bazaar stalls before stepping into the shade for lunch in Marrakech, according to French Web site purepeople.com. On Sunday, the couple reportedly stayed back in their suites at the fabled 5-star Amanjena Hotel, a spring fed luxury oasis resort with a view of the Atlas Mountains.

Witherspoon’s visit to Morocco, where a seriously buffed out Gyllenhaal is filming Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, comes less than a month after the couple spent an extended Bastille Day holiday in Paris.

Reps for Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal are denying tabloid reports that the couple are engaged.

“They are not engaged, getting married or any of the reports,” the reps tell PEOPLE exclusively, calling the reports “lies.”

Witherspoon, 32 and Gyllenhaal, 27, began quietly dating in April 2007. They recently were seen together in Paris with Witherspoon’s kids.

• Reporting by JULIE JORDAN

Five months after announcing her split from husband Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon seems to be wading back into the dating pool - with Jake Gyllenhaal, her costar in the upcoming CIA thriller Rendition.

Although the two have been careful to avoid the spotlight, they were spotted March 23 dining with two other couples at L.A.’s Il Sole. “They were cuddling,” an observer tells PEOPLE in its new issue. “It looked very playful.”

And now friends of both say the relationship extends beyond the occasional dinner. “In the last month, they’ve been spending a lot more time together,” says a source close to Gyllenhaal, adding that the actor has even met up with Witherspoon, 31, and her kids - daughter Ava, 7, and son Deacon, 3 - in New York City. At 26, he is five years her junior, but “Jake really likes her and isn’t at all concerned that she has two kids.”

Gyllenhaal’s rep had no comment. Witherspoon’s rep did not return calls.

Still, Witherspoon isn’t rushing into another high-profile Hollywood relationship, says a source close to the Oscar winner. “%26#91;Reese%26#93; is still very, very hurt by Ryan and it will take a long time to get over that,” the source explains. “%26#91;But she and Jake%26#93; have a mutual interest. They are taking it slow and getting to know each other.”

One common point may be their homebody lifestyles. Family-first Witherspoon routinely picks up her kids from school and takes Ava for mommy-and-me manicures. As for Gyllenhaal - who’s uncle to sister Maggie’s 6-month-old daughter Ramona and godfather to Heath Ledger’s 17-month-old Matilda - he’s “very into kids,” says a source.

Although he dated nightlife-loving Kirsten Dunst for nearly two years, “Jake has never been about staying out late partying,” the insider adds. “This is what he wants.”

The romance between Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon is soooo “right,” a friend of the couple tells PEOPLE.

“I dig Jake and Reese together,” says Clifton Collins Jr., an old pal of Witherspoon, 32, and Gyllenhaal’s costar in the upcoming film Brothers. “They seem happy.”

Gyllenhaal, 27, seems a great match for her, he says. “He’s got this big, lovable heart. He’s just like that.”

So would Gyllenhaal make a good dad?

You betcha, he adds. In fact, “He’s a big kid. And he’s very playful.” Indeed, Gyllenhaal has had a lot of practice: He’s uncle to 22-month-old Ramona, his sister Maggie Gyllenhaal’s child with Peter Saarsgaard, and has been spending lots of time with Witherspoon and her kids, Ava, 8, and Deacon, 4.

Watching Gyllenhaal and Witherspoon together, “I see smiles, so something’s gotta be %26#91;going%26#93; right,” Collins Jr. says.

• Reporting by VANESSA DIAZ

About to break out of indie films and into blockbuster stardom with The Dark Knight, Maggie Gyllenhaal opens up about her family - including her little brother, Jake.

“He’s great with kids - it comes naturally to him,” Maggie says in the August issue of Marie Claire, about Jake Gyllenhaal, frequently seen in the company of girlfriend Reese Witherspoon and her children. “He really has that touch.”

And Maggie should know. Her daughter, Ramona, turns 2 in October.

with a child,” she tells the magazine, out July 15. “%26#91;When Ramona was first born%26#93;, I didn’t know what I was doing.”

The actress, who recently said she thinks harder about accepting movie roles since becoming a mom, adds there are some down sides to all the attention she’s getting from being in a high-profile movie like The Dark Knight - such a being called out for fashion so-called faux pas.

“Sometimes it freaks me out. I’ve been so hurt and felt so bad,” she says of making celeb “worst dressed” lists.

Still, she is able to let some of it roll of her, adding, “People will always say mean things about you if you put yourself out there.”

Just how serious is Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon’s relationship?

“I just think he loves her,” Gyllenhaal’s producer pal Ryan Kavanaugh told PEOPLE at the 23rd Annual “Salute to Youth” dinner in Los Angeles on Thursday.

Kavanaugh produced the actor’s upcoming film, Brothers, which he calls a “passion project.”

“%26#91;Jake%26#93; has obviously had his fair share of dating,” Kavanaugh says of Gyllenhaal’s romantic life. “I think eventually you come to a place where you know what you want and seeing what we saw on the set, he was certainly completely devoted to her and really loves her.”

• Reporting by ALONDRA HERNANDEZ

• Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal, responded “very pleasantly” to an older male diner who approached them at Zaytinya, in Washington D.C. Other diners, meanwhile, let the pair eat in peace, as they shared a salad, followed by the grilled lamb on a skewer and grilled baby octopus. Gyllenhaal also had some snails sauteed in garlic, the Washington Post” reports, but Witherspoon steered clear.

• Mario Lopez, dancing with a pretty brunette at New York’s Butter. The Chorus Line star alternated between the dancefloor and his booth. When Lopez left, John Mayer and friends (including Sherrod Small) took over his table, beginning their guys’ night out.

• And the singer kept on going! After leaving Butter, John Mayer had to fight off the women at Upstairs in New York.

Surrounded by his male pals, the singer - and aspiring ’80s style icon - ordered some late-night burgers and

casually drank. But even while he was in the back corner, women managed to

spot Mayer - and in no time his table was surrounded. Mayer, meanwhile, wasn’t having any of it: He asked a bouncer to clear away his lingering female admirers.

• Prince, stopping by Mama Juana’s Latin Lounge in Studio

City, Calif., with Christina Milian. Prince “sat in the corner at his usual table,” a source tells us.

• Kelly Preston, attending a baby shower in the Penthouse of

Los Angeles’s Huntley Hotel.

• By AMANDA FRIEDMAN, JENNIFER GARCIA, MAUREEN HARRINGTON,

SUSAN MANDEL and MARY MARGARET

Celebrity Hot Spots.

Tuesday’s Caught in the Act >

• Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal, sharing an early breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien in Brentwood,

Calif. Walking in with their arms around each other, the casually dressed

pair shared a table for two in the back, ordering coffee, an omelette and fruit. The pair talked and traded sections of the Los Angeles Times at the table. Later that night, the couple was spotted again - this time at West Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont where they celebrated Robert Downey Jr.’s 43rd birthday with Cameron Diaz, Gerard Butler, Ben Stiller and more.

• Blake Lively, checking out couches at ABC Carpet

%26 Home in New York. Dressed in a camel coat, with her hair in a ponytail,

the Gossip Girl star snapped photos of couches and side tables.

According to a fellow shopper, she acted very friendly with the staff.

• Amanda Bynes, celebrating her 22nd birthday at

Las Vegas’s TAO Asian Bistro with a male friend. Taking a spot near the restaurant’s signature Buddha,

the actress ate pork potstickers and a California Roll for dinner. For

dessert? Restaurant employees brought out a surprise platter with a

candle - which she blew out with a smile.

• Zach Braff, picking up the check at his 33rd birthday

celebration. Dining with a group at STK in West Hollywood, Braff was joined

by girlfriend Shiri Appleby and Scrubs costars Donald Faison and Sarah Chalke. Braff was in a good mood,

laughing at the table and frequently nuzzling with his girlfriend, observers tell us. After a long dinner - of steaks and champagne - the group ordered two trays of dessert, then chanted Braff’s name as he slumped in mock humility and blew out the candles.

• Stevie Wonder, following up his dinner at Crustacean in

Beverly Hills with an impromptu concert. The singer performed in the lounge,

and dedicated “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” to his daughter.

• By HOWARD BREUER, PERNILLA CEDENHEIM, JENNIFER GARCIA, MARK GRAY,

MARY MARGARET and ULRICA WIHLBORG

Celebrity Hot Spots.

Monday’s Couples Watch >