Celebrity Moms Setting What Kind of Example?

Clearly there’s some misunderstanding amongst celebrity moms.

Instead of putting down other moms, we should be helping each other out.

Nadya Suleman felt the need to point her finger at another mom, Patricia Krentcil, the mom accused of bringing her daughter into a tanning booth.

According to TMZ, “Octo, fully clothed, said she doesn't feel that Patricia Krentcil should lose her kids, but she does feel Child Protective Services should step in to give Krentcil some parenting tips.”

Of course, TMZ does not help by shortening Nadya Suleman’s already questionable nickname to simply “Octo,” but is Suleman just joining the naming party?

And if what Krentcil says is true, that she would never take her fair-skinned daughter tanning, then does what she does (or overdoes) to her own body have anything to do with what kind of mother she is?

Just as I would ask, does what Suleman does to put food on the table have anything to do with her parenting abilities?

Is there a way for mothers to lend support to each other without the need of tearing other mothers down?

Photographing Celebrity Moms' Kids

E Online asks, What's Bothering Halle Berry?!

Another day in the life of a celebrity mom simply trying to pick up her child from school without being harassed by paparazzi.

"It is inappropriate for these people to stalk a child's school everyday," a source close to Berry tells E! News, "these people" being the paparazzi who chronicle an awful lot of Berry's comings and goings.

"They pushed too far [today]," the source added. "Halle felt that her daughter was being threatened. Having words with someone who is stalking your family is not out of line."

I understand it’s legal to photograph people in the public, but it seems like there needs to be some sort of exception when children are involved.

This is a prime example of intrusion of privacy. Just because someone is a celebrity it shouldn’t make it legal to photograph their children.

Think about it. If you were suddenly hounded by photographers when you picked up your children at school, wouldn’t you be like, Get away from my children!?

I can understand public figures having their photos taken, but it really seems like there is some line being crossed when children can be photographed at any time they are in public. Isn’t this potentially harmful for kids?

Victoria Beckham Reminds Us to Do a Head Count

Vanity Fair spoke with Victoria Beckham and got a surprising answer when asking her some silly questions about her daily life.

In response to the query if she had ever run out of gas, she shared a much more entertaining story about a very busy morning when she took her son Brooklyn to school, except, well, without her son.

“So I jump in my Range Rover, put the car seat in, put my iPod on—obviously very important—and I drive to school. And then I realize, I’d left Brooklyn in the kitchen. I was driving along, talking away, and all the sudden, I looked at the front seat, and I was like, “Shit! Shit! I’ve forgot something!”

I can’t tell you how many times I have gotten everyone locked and loaded in the minivan and I’ll be driving down the road wondering why it’s so quiet and I’ll swing my head around to make sure I have all three children.

So far I’ve been quite lucky; the silence has been attributed to sleepy kids or interesting flowers outside the windows. But there is that primal fear of forgetting a child somewhere along the line and it creeps up and surprises me all the time.

It’s like poor Robert Barone on the old TV show, Raymond. Whenever Robert would feel like the unloved, unimportant brother he would remind everyone of the time his parents left him at a gas station on vacation. And to top things off, it was quite a few miles before they noticed their error.

At least Beckham was right down the street…

Melissa Rycroft Shares Her Postpartum Depression Struggle

Celebrity Baby Scoop reveals: Melissa Rycroft Reveals Postpartum Depression Struggle: "[I Was In] A Bad, Dark Place."

It’s helpful for all mothers when Celebrity Momsters open up in interviews about dealing with postpartum depression.

Reality TV star Melissa Rycroft opens up about being diagnosed with postpartum depression following the birth of her daughter Ava in 2011 and how struggling with its emotionally crippling effects made her question her mothering abilities. 

I suffered from ppd after my first child, but I had no mommy-friends at the time and was quite isolated so I did not recognize the signs.

The more information and reality that is presented to new mothers unfamiliar with postpartum depression the better.

“Almost immediately I didn’t feel right,” Rycroft says. “I had just given birth to this perfect baby, but absolutely nothing made me happy anymore. I had no idea what was wrong. I had these great blessings, but I felt empty. I’d put Ava in her crib and go outside and scream for a minute.”

It can be such a scary feeling to be so depressed when you think you are supposed to be at your happiest. There’s no shame or guilt in admitting to need help. 

Of course, depression at any point of one’s life should be dealt with as soon as it is recognized.

This mommying stuff is tough work!

Deschanel and Doherty Dish on Motherhood (Or Not)

Spanning the gamut from one star who is not planning on having children anytime soon, thank you, to another who would love to have them, especially now that she has a new reality show to save lots of money for their college education—I give you: Zooey Deschanel and Shannen Doherty.

Jezebel reports that Zooey Deschanel Says She’d Rather Work Than Have Babies.

I find it refreshing that actresses can be so open about not having maternal instincts! I know there was a large part of my life when I wanted to work rather than be a mom (and oh, I still have many of those moments!).

Deschanel said: “That's never been my focus. My sister [Emily] was always very motherly, babysitting and stuff. I like kids, and I like being around kids — but it was never an ambition, something, like, I need … I like working. That's what I like doing. I like to work.”

EOnline shares that Shannen Doherty Dishes on Marrying "Soul Mate," Wants to Have...a Baby!

So the former Beverly Hills, 90210 star married photographer Kurt Iswarienko last year and is about to launch a new reality show and would love to have kids.

And her hubby is okay whether they have kids or not: "My husband said something beautiful to me the other day. He said, 'The only thing I care about is whatever I go through in life, it's with you. Whether we have kids or not, as long as I'm with you, I'm going to be happy and fulfilled.' "

Doherty is ready for any naysayers if she does have kids and continue with her reality television plan.

"My mother said to me, 'George Clooney does a coffee commercial in Colombia—does that make him a commercial actor? No!' " Doherty said. "Everybody has to earn a living. If that coffee commercial buys his house in Italy, then good for him. If this gives me the opportunity to provide for my family more or for college for how many kids I have or adopt, then great!"

So there you have it. Non-Celebrity Momsters who may (or may not) become mothers in the future and who are perfectly fine with whatever may come!

Madonna's Daughter Lourdes Turned in By the Paparazzi

As a mother, I wouldn’t expect any other kind of reaction from Madonna.

There were photographs snapped of Madonna’s fifteen-year-old daughter Lourdes smoking making their way around the Internet the other day.

According to Mommyish, Madonna was ticked off.

I suppose we will all be guilty of feeling angry or disappointed when we catch our children doing things that we probably did ourselves at that age, too.

But it must be worse when the behavior is broadcast across websites for everyone to see.

Can’t Lourdes be a teenager in privacy? And be caught the old-fashioned way? By her mother wondering why she smells like stale cigarette smoke and a lot of Listerine?

Nadya Suleman, Octomom, Accepting Assistance Should Cause No Shame

MSNBC’s Today Moms has an interview with Octomom, Nadya Suleman, where she addresses the issue that she swore she would never go on food stamps, but apparently she had to a few months ago because of her finances.

Suleman explains that she did not want to go on assistance, but her children’s welfare was more important than her pride.

I feel saddened that Suleman is in a position where she feels ashamed.

Regardless of what people think of her choice and method to have such a large family, the reality is that she has fourteen children to feed and care for. There should be no shame in needing to ask for assistance.

“Backstage, Suleman said she's learned not to care what other people say about her, though she realizes many have an opinion."I don't ever, ever Google myself," she said. "I'm the wrong person to harass, to use as a bad example. I should actually be perceived as an inspiration to women, for having gone what I've been through and being sane."”

I think it’s brave of Suleman to admit what she sees as her failings and to recognize she has made some mistakes. But it seems as though she really is putting her children first while at the same time respecting her own self and needs.

"I have huge dreams, and I'm not letting them go."

For a woman who has been through so much and weathered so much negativity from the press and the public, I think there is much we can learn from her perseverance.

Nicole Richie Can Balance It All and So Can You

Celebrity Momster Nicole Richie is the cover girl for the March 2012 California Style magazine.

Celeb Baby Laundry reports that she talks about balancing motherhood and career in the issue.

 “I can’t sit here and say that it’s easy all day long. I’m just figuring out how to make it work. But I really don’t have anything to complain about. I have a very supportive family and husband [Joel Madden] and that makes it so much easier. My parents live here. They’re each 10 minutes away from me, and they’re very eager to come over even when I don’t want them to.”

I think that just about sums it all up—trying to figure it out as we go along. I suppose I have this fear that I actually am making it work really well right now and that one day I’ll wake up and realize how well I managed it all and be like—why didn’t I recognize that and enjoy it all more?

I think I waste too much time worrying about not doing everything as best as possible, even as I’m probably doing pretty well at the balance.

Maybe we need to give ourselves more credit as mothers for doing such a good job of balancing it all!

Madonna is Just Like You and Me (Well, Almost...)

Madonna is the latest Celebrity Momster to join the it’s-so-hard-to-be-a-mom conversation.

I read readers’ comments with great interest and while there were a few voices of wisdom pointing out that Madonna has as much a right as “regular” moms to voice her difficulties, the majority of opinions were—how dare she go there?!

According to Celebrity Baby Scoop, Madonna told The Sun, "I'm not going to lie - it's hard work having four kids and doing all the work I do. Everybody has something to say about the way I live my life. At the end of the day I'm doing my best. If people don't like it, then that's really their problem. Sometimes I cope with it very well, sometimes it's a struggle. It's a challenge juggling everything - multi-tasking is my middle name."

Readers’ anger came from Madonna saying it’s hard raising four kids when she can hire all the help she needs and wants. They also point out that she can always make the choice to scale back on her work load. While all of this is true, I think we need to also notice that she is facing the same struggle all moms face.

How much work do we pursue as opposed to how much actual in-the-trenches child-rearing do we tackle? It’s a very real question for many moms—even those who don’t have the luxury of making the choice of working or not. Regardless of our financial situations, we are all struggling to balance the demands of work and motherhood.

And we need to take into account that Madonna also has a whole host of other concerns that us “regular” moms don’t. And I don’t think Madonna sounds like she’s complaining at all about her situation; she’s simply being honest.

It’s not to say that one situation—Celebrity Momster or regular mom— is better or worse than the other. It’s just to say that a lot of mothers have the same struggle at heart. How do I balance it all? How do I satisfy my greatest needs and desires as a person separate from being a mother?