Who Doesn't Make These Parenting "Mistakes"?!

Seriously, Parents magazine? You’re giving Jessica Alba a “Thumbs-Down” for not having the stroller hood closed on a sunny day?

Ever hear of vitamin D?

A photo feature “Celebrity Parenting Mistakes (& Successes!)” displays photos of Celebrity Momsters doing things like “Not Protecting Skin from the Sun,” “Drinking from a Bottle After Age 1,” and “Riding without a Helmet.”

Wow, are we really that desperate to point the parenting finger that we have to judge every little non-perfect parent action we see?

Man, I would be eaten alive in the press.

Are you guilty of any of these parenting “mistakes”?

Super Model Proves She's Just a Normal Human Being

I think Doug Glanville of Time Magazine is right on in his take on the Celebirty Momster Giselle Bündchen’ Super Bowl Comment fiasco—In Defense of Gisele Bündchen and Strong Sports Spouses.

Let me make it clear that I know absolutely nothing about sports, but I can still imagine what it would be like for my husband to lose a job that was very important to him.

After Bundchen reunited with her husband after the Patriots loss to the Giants, a Giants fan heckled her by saying, “Eli owns your husband.”

Bundchen’s comeback was that her husband couldn’t “fucking catch the ball and throw the ball.”

The supermodel has received a lot of bad press saying she shouldn’t have made a comment like that (even if it was true). Aren’t we being a little too hard on the lady? I mean, her husband’s team just lost the biggest game of the year and someone’s going to heckle her? She really was just defending her man.

Who probably wouldn’t have done the same thing in her situation?

And while the comment came out sounding kind of rude against her hubby’s teammates, it was said in the heat of the moment. I’m sure she wouldn’t have said that as an official statement.

Glanville also makes a great point: “Of course, some may still think that an athlete’s wife should be seen and not heard (let alone use profanity or actually weigh in on an athletic performance), look pretty on the arm and have no opinion about the game. In Bündchen’s case, she’s supposed to be a supermodel on the arm who doesn’t get into the playbook even when she actually knows better than fans what’s inside that playbook.

These women go through a lot to sustain their relationships and, in most cases, they don’t work out in the end, so we should admire her for doing what she needs to do to protect it. And if nothing else, she deserved to have a moment with her husband in peace because even Brady needs to know that everything is going to be all right.”

When we start expecting women to keep their mouths shut and not express themselves, we’re heading into dangerous territory. For someone who is being recorded everywhere she goes, she’s bound to say some less than perfect quotes.

Instead of being upset about it, we should be celebrating—Wow! A supermodel is a human being.

Teen Moms Wanting to Get Pregnant Again

I tried watching an episode of Teen Mom the other night, or was it Teen Mom 2?

What struck me the most was how young the women were. Yes, I know, they’re teen moms, but actually seeing their personalities in action was very enlightening.

I remembered who I was when I was fifteen, immature, wrapped up in the emotions of relationships, and knee-deep in living in a world of drama.

There were moments when that all fell away and I saw the women simply being mothers, loving their babies and being devoted. I could definitely see that these were women who were not emotionally or financially prepared for the changes that motherhood brings, but they were doing their best.

Perez Hilton this morning reports that some of these young moms are trying to get pregnant again.

“U F*CKING KIDDING??

Apparently Leah Messer, Maci Bookout and Chelsea Houska have missed the whole point of the show!”

While I would think it’s probably not in their best interest to be getting pregnant again so soon, I’m not having such a visceral reaction.

And I’m not totally sure that the TV show is meant, as Hilton believes, “to teach teens to be responsible and NOT have babies till you're an adult!”

I believe the show presents the reality of young motherhood to teens. I do hope that there will be a lot of girls who will recognize the hardships and take precautions to not become pregnant so young.

But I don’t think freaking out on these young women about wanting to get pregnant again is the answer. What would be much more effective is to open up a dialogue about what their desires to be new moms again speaks to.

What makes a young woman want to become a mom before she’s really had a chance to live her own life first?

Practicing Not Being Judgmental with Brad Pitt

I was thinking about this quote from Babyrazzi I read from Brad Pitt in which he talks about what he does to get his children moving in the morning.

“I admit there’s times like, ‘We gotta get up. Get up! ‘Here’s your shoes. Here’s your shoes. Drink this Coke. Drink this Coca-Cola. Drink it all. Right now! Drink it! Drink it! Drink it!’ Just so we could get ‘em up and going.”

At first I had this totally judgmental reaction where I was like—oh no, he didn’t!

Doesn’t he know how bad caffeine and sugar are for kids? And in the morning? What is he crazy?!

And then the next jump my judgmental parenting brain took was, wow, I’m a better parent than Brad Pitt! And I’ll admit I felt a little superior—than Brad Pitt, folks!

My daughter, who is seven, has only tried a sip of soda maybe three times in her life. My three-year-old doesn’t even know what soda is!

And then I heard myself and I was like, oh no, Sheila. I’m all about not judging. So then I had some work to do because I really don’t think soda is good for kids. I mean, like, it’s not just not good—it’s bad! And I know that’s a fact.

So how do I sit back and say, oh, okay, Brad, feed your kids soda in the morning?!

I tried to put myself in someone else’s shoes if they heard something I do with my kids that they totally disagree with. Could I find something so heinous as plying my kids with sugar and caffeine?

Umm, I do yell at my kids sometimes when I lose my temper and that’s pretty bad.

I wonder if Brad yells?

If not, maybe we’re even.

Oh, and then I also had the thought, maybe he was just joking?

Or!

Maybe he said this to somebody he wasn’t sure if they were really a friend or just nice to him because he’s famous to see if it would show up in the tabloids!

Jamie Lynn Spears Reminds Us to be Ourselves

I never saw the younger Spears sister’s TV show when she was a teenager, but because of who her big sister was, I heard all about her teenage pregnancy.

And then we really didn’t hear much from Jamie Lynn after that. Oh sure, we saw the occasional photo of her and her daughter Maddie. Or saw some tabloid headline about her problems with the baby’s daddy, Casey Aldridge. But for the most part, Spears decided to disappear into a small town and take care of her daughter.

Glamour magazine shares an impressive as-told-to interview with the young mom this month as she prepares to turn 21 and launch a singing career.

She shines the light on what is so important to remember about the Teen Mom reality shows; motherhood is not a bed of roses where you coddle and coo about a baby all day.

“When I saw MTV’s Teen Mom was coming out, I remember thinking, Oh my God, I cannot wait to see this show because there’s someone else out there. I mean, I feel for those girls. I’ve been that girl. It does show that motherhood is hard. There were so many times—especially when Maddie would get sick—when I would cry to myself and think, I really don’t know what to do. It takes bravery to be a young mom, and it does take bravery to let the world watch.”

With the majority of Celebrity Momsters being older, Spears may be able to address the younger moms who feel lost.

“I’m more honest in my lyrics than I am in anything else. It’s where I feel the most safe to express myself. I write about growing up, my family, Maddie and getting pregnant. If I’ve lived it, why wouldn’t I talk about it? I guess that’s been the coolest thing—realizing that it’s OK to just be myself and really tell my story.”

Encouragement to other young mothers that their experience is valid and important to be expressed would be a very positive result from Spears’ life story.

Of course, for any aged mother, this is a reminder to be proud of who we are, regardless of our “story” and to be willing to share our uniqueness with the world.

Gwyneth Paltrow Questions Her Feminism

Celebitchy reports on Gwyneth Paltrow’s interview in Harper Bazaar’s March issue.

“I have little kids in school. I want to maintain my marriage and my family, so I have to be here when he comes home.” Hence her recent advice to a girlfriend (who remains tantalizingly unnamed): “She is an actress and in a new relationship with someone else with a big career, and I said this may not be feminist, but you have to compromise. It’s been all about you and you’re a big deal. And if you want what you’re saying you want—a family—you have to be a wife, and that is part of the equation. Gloria Steinem may string me up by my toes, but all I can do is my best, and I can do only what works for me and my family.”

If a woman was solely compromising her career for sake of family and husband and was unhappy about it, then I think there would be a problem, but life is all about compromises to achieve our bigger goals.

I feel it is important to give time to all the important areas of our lives: family, career, and self.

What do you think? Do you feel being a feminist means not compromising career for family?

I disagree with Paltrow that what she is saying isn’t feminist. I think that as a mother, or a father, part of the equation of parenthood and even selfhood is compromising in different ways to make our lives what we ultimately want.

Octomom's Honesty

There’s always a lesson to be learned from Octomom, Nadya Suleman.

Celeb Baby Laundry reports on Suleman’s  latest chat on UStream Sunday night.

Suleman says it like it is and you really can’t say that’s bad: “Is this easy? God, no! It’s not easy at all! I’m not going to be trying to don any facade and say, ‘Oh yeah, life is a piece of cake.’ It’s not. It’s a piece of poop!” Suleman said. “Eight pieces of poop, all day long. But the rewards outweigh anything negative.”

I can imagine some moms will be shocked over Suleman’s comments, but let’s get serious. She’s taking care of fourteen kids!

Sometimes the words that come out of my mouth from dealing with only three children could startle even a badass sailor.

I think it’s awesome that Suleman spoke her truth. And I’m right here to support her in saying yes, sometimes I feel the same way. Life is not easy raising little kids. As much as we love them, they can definitely try even a saint’s patience.