If you are a parent, you will know this when I say that parenting equals hard work! There are days where you are more tired than you thought possible, days where your kids are driving you so crazy you want to scream and nothing is as easy as it may seem.
That’s real life. For what we see of celebrity parents, it seems so much easier. When they go out in public, they seem to put together. Their kids behave even with cameras catching their every move and the whole scene just looks super-human.
With Mother’s Day being celebrated today, here’s what some of Hollywood’s best have to say about being a mother.
Gwyneth Paltrow: “The best part of being a mom is giving more than you ever thought possible — it enriches your life in the most incredible way. If there’s a negative about being a parent, it’s the total and constant sleep deprivation. It’s so freaking annoying.”
Amy Adams: “Because I have a daughter [Aviana], now I try to be careful not to take home my characters. Since my daughter has started to understand more things, I didn’t want to confuse her too much by coming home and being any different from how mommy usually behaves.”
Jessica Alba: “I want [my children] to be strong, independent-minded individuals. Like my grandmother, who has always been my inspiration and in many ways my role model. She worked hard all her life, ran a restaurant, raised five children, and put my grandfather through university. She also played a big role in raising me. So I would want my children to learn to respect the value of working hard for your goals and also having a strong sense of self-respect and self-worth. I think if more kids would learn those kinds of values, they would grow up to be much happier and more inspired adults. I want my children to respect their mother and father, develop a strong work ethic, and lead productive and happy lives. That’s my goal as a mother.”
Katherine Heigl: “[Acting is] so hard and it requires so much of a time commitment. I’d have to give up my own career to [let my children be child actors]. It’s a fulltime job. My mother had to protect me always and protect my interests. She had to make sure other people’s agendas didn’t compromise me or hurt me in any way. It’s a business. So there are always people pushing longer hours or more work, but you’re a kid. That’s a lot to ask a small person. And I had to keep up with my studies. My parents wouldn’t have let me pursue acting if I didn’t stay on top of my school work.”
Gwen Stefani: “At first, your life is totally the same. You have this cute little thing that you get to drive around everywhere and you’re so proud and it’s amazing. And as they grow older, it really does start to change your life. Like, ‘Oh my God, they have school, they have to get through first grade, they have to learn to read.’ It starts getting so serious, and you’re like, ‘Ahhh!’”
Kristen Bell: “I love being a mom. I love every moment with my daughter and I can’t wait for her to be old enough to enjoy watching with me all those incredible children’s and Disney movies that I grew up watching. I like taking things as they come more and now that I have my daughter to look after, I’m glad that I can be a much more relaxed and happier mom than I would have been at an earlier point in my life.”
Charlize Theron: “Having a child has just made me want to be more creative and ask bigger questions and have more interests in things that might be uncomfortable. I think we all have different responses, but for me that’s definitely been like that. I didn’t look at my slate and go, ‘No, I can’t do that movie now that I have a kid.’ He just gives me energy to want to do more and explore more.”
Uma Thurman: “When I was younger and became a mother, I didn’t think I could do anything else and I was completely overwhelmed. I’d feel guilty and afraid if I worked, and guilty and afraid about not working. It’s very overwhelming for a younger person to become a mother so it’s awesome to have another baby when you’re a grown-up. It’s the greatest love I’ve ever known. Love is it. It’s the greatest. It’s costly, it’s challenging. It’s wonderful.”
Kris Jenner: My parenting style has always sort of been the same. I think that what made it easier for me [with the younger daughters] is because Khloe, Kourtney and Kimberly help me a lot and they give me what they call ‘advice’ which kind of helps me with situations that arise with the little kids. When I was raising Kourtney, Kimberly, Khloe and Robert, I had a job but my job was that of room mother, the soccer coach, the Brownie leader, the carpool driver and the chef. I was so proud of my kids and did all of that. I was so excited to be just the parent and not working all of the time. So being a working mum — a real working mum [when the younger ones came] — I had them to help me. I think they had like four mums. So yeah, it was a little bit different.”
Leslie Mann: I don’t think it works at all [balancing work and family life], it’s really hard. It’s really hard because there is a sacrifice being made, there has to be. And I am not willing to do that with my kids, and so I don’t wind up working as much. And I would rather be home, so we just have to like take it as it comes and when I start going crazy, that’s when I know I need to work.”
