Angelina Jolie, Britney Spears & Madonna - The Celebrity Mom Myth Part 1
Posted: Thursday, February 02, 2006
by Jean Horst
I'm so sick of reading about celebrity moms. So sick of it, that I can't stop. I'll admit to being a little obsessed with the details of the lives of Angelina Jolie, Britney Spears, Madonna, Denise Richardson, et al and their children. I read all the details about their parenting decisions, what their kids are wearing, which stores they shopped at. It's a side form of entertainment for me. They make it look so easy. And while I read, I often snicker at them. These celebrity moms speak of their discoveries of childrearing and its joys like they are the only ones in the world to have ever experienced it. While I and all the other "regular" moms the world over have known these things for years. What we think of as common sense, they talk about like it's rocket science.
So I'm here to write in praise of the real moms. Those who manage to get up each morning, get themselves ready and off to work (and I include those full-time domestic managers) while at the same time getting breakfast, making lunch, finding homework, backpacks, & lost socks, signing the latest permission form, answering a dozen questions from a preschooler, wiping runny noses & coordinating after school schedules of 3 children.
Some of you head out to an outside-of-your-home job, so your dirty dishes, dusty shelves, crumby kitchen floors, and stinky laundry have to wait until you can squeeze it into your evening schedule after you've gotten home from soccer practice, piano lessons, ballet, or the afterschool meeting with the teacher who says your child "Isn't working up to his potential".
The rest of you who work full-time at home get to answer the questions and comments from the uninformed like, "What DO you do all day?", or my favorite, "You're so lucky you have all that time at home by yourself". But you're gracious, you smile, nod, & under your breath say "Idiot!"
You struggle to train your children to become solid, dependable, kind, informed citizens of this planet amidst the barrage of internet porn, gangsta rap, and ultra-violent video games. While the media moguls keep saying "Parents should just turn it off if it's not good for their children". I'd bet they don't have children.
Don't let anyone tell you that you aren't a hero! It takes a management genius with a strong will to pull all that off. Some of us are blessed with full-time partners who are in it with us 100%. Some are not.
But don't let the celebrity mom myth make you think it's easy. Never forget how much help they have. Those armies of assistants they have jumping at their call. Do you think they are up night after night if their kids are sick or just don't want to be in their own bed? Not that they aren't good moms, I just bet that when they need to sleep so they can be on TV the next day, someone else is up with their kids. Someone they can afford to pay very well.
Hang in there. We're the ones who are raising the next generation. The world's leaders will be from our kids. The great humanitarians will be trained by those of us who teach our children compassion & caring for the less fortunate. How many children of the famous are really impacting the world in a positive way? (Paris Hilton is impacting the world - I don't mean like that!) One of you is raising the next Bill Gates, the next Michael Jordan, the next Mother Teresa. But most of you are just raising the next generation of good, solid, working Americans who will strive to continue the traditions of our life. The businessmen, moms, doctors, preachers, nurses, teachers, policemen, chefs, entrepreneurs, and so on. The ones like us - who aren't celebrities - but who are the "real" people.
So for now, I'll keep reading about those famous moms, just for kicks. But I'll remember that their life is just a myth. Mine is the real one. No question.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)I absolutely loved your article. I too laugh when I hear about all the woes these new celebrity moms gripe about. Oh they have it so hard! They couldn't survive w/out all their hired help! Even the ones that I love, like Julia Roberts, have a nanny!
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