Sandra Bullock has learned this year that ''life happens whether you schedule it or not''.

The 'Blind Side' star was devastated when she lost her father in September and then her pet pooches a few days later and admits it has taught her that life doesn't wait.

Speaking on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, she said: ''Life, I realised, happens whether you schedule it or not. That just blew my mind this year. My dad died, and then while my dad was failing, we get a call from the nanny that our dog, Ruby, the two-legger, had a stroke. And I'm like, 'What, what?' I was like, 'Just put her on life support. Do something.' And they go, 'We can't. She's suffering.' So I was like, 'OK, there's a reason for this.' Dad's settled. We fly home. [A few days later,] the nanny comes into the room. She's got a look on her face. I'm like, 'What did the kids do?' She's like, 'I need to speak to you in the bedroom.' And I was like, 'OK,' and she goes, 'Your other dog has a heart tumour, and she's going to die in three days.' So, you know what, it's life. But, you know, when you lose your little rides-or-die, it makes things different.''

Meanwhile, Sandra - who has Louis, eight, and Laila, six - previously confessed she is ''a little neurotic'' when it comes to her kids and admits she can be overprotective.

She said: ''I now realise what it feels like to be afraid every single day because I love my kids to the point where I'm a little neurotic, in what's happening out in the world, and am I a good mother? When you leave the house and they go to school, I check my phone constantly, did the school call, is something, are you gonna get hurt, if they're leaving with somebody else, I panic. I have to learn how to relax within a world that spins that kind of worry and remind myself and my children that it is also a hopeful place.''