Do Celebrity Moms Make You Feel Like a Failure?

Parenting is so hot in Hollywood right now. And strollers, belly bumps, baby names, and everything that comes with it have reached rock star status. As feminist author Erica Jong pointed out in a recent Wall Street Journal piece: 

 

Movie stars proudly display their baby bumps, and the shiny magazines at the checkout counter never tire of describing the joys of celebrity parenthood. Bearing and rearing children has come to be seen as life's greatest good…Nannies are seldom photographed in these carefully arranged family scenes. We are to assume that all this baby-minding is painless, easy and cheap.

 

We have to admit, we're suckers for what Jong calls “an orgy of motherphilia” too. We're gaga over our recent photo shoot with Kourtney Kardashian and son Mason, we're constantly curious about which celebs are newly pregnant (congrats, Pink!) and what toys and clothes they’re buying for their bambinos.

Celebs—they’re just like us! Only they’re not. And comparing our lives to theirs can be harmful. Celebrities present us with unreasonable expectations for what it's like to be a parent. When you read about them in magazines, you see them looking fresh-faced and well-rested, in their skinny jeans only a few weeks postpartum, and jet-setting or having date night. What you don't see is all the help they get—the caregivers who watch their children so they can work, travel, date, and sleep in; the trainers they work with to get their bod back ASAP; or the personal chefs they've hired to make yummy low-fat meals. Most moms we know would kill for someone to make them any meal, let alone a gourmet, fat-flushing entrée.

It's okay to love reading about what tattoos celeb moms have and who breastfeed and for how long as long as you remember that they aren't normal people, and can buy far more help than your average mama can. Doing what you do is far more impressive. And if you can't fit into your skinny jeans while doing it, well, that's the awesome part about not being famous.

Does seeing celeb moms who seem to have it all ever make you feel like you don’t measure up?