Kate Winslet says celebrity moms should never complain

by

Sara McGinnis

posted in Celebrities

Kate Winslet just can't get on board with her celebrity counterparts (ahem -- Gwyneth Paltrow) who complain about life as a working mom being hard.

The 38-year-old star, who is mom 13-year-old Mia, 10-year-old Joe and 10-month-old Bear, believes those who've snagged a bit of the limelight seems to think if a star does have those thoughts she'd be better off keeping them quiet.

"We've heard a lot from actresses recently about how difficult it is, but we should never be saying that it's difficult because we are so bloody lucky," the Divergent actress explained. "It's just not an OK thing to share. It's always a juggle, but isn't it for every working mother?"

Kate Winslet went on to say the hardest part between her work and personal life is the "emotional jump" required between the two vastly different roles.

"The thing for me personally is that it is a difficult transition, is that my life at home is just so different to my life at work," she told Marie Claire . "It doesn't matter which of the two is harder, it's the emotional - rather than logistic - jump from one place to another that's difficult. The juggling of it all... we just get on with it. And we do, because we can."

To that I feel compelled to add: We do, because we can -- and we must.

For me at least, that's an important addition. I'm not particularly good at taking on motherhood with passion, but I've got an incredibly strong sense of responsibility. That which is difficult and I'd be happy to be done with I know I still must take on, and so I do.

It's an approach, that while perhaps not exactly ideal, has gotten our family through a lot. The sense of duty is what got me through over a year of up-all-nights with our second son, and got me out the door each evening for a handful of years to wait tables because we couldn't make ends meet.

As for celebrity moms complaining, I feel that Kate Winslet has a point, but also that a person's experience shouldn't be hushed. It's hard not to be envious of stars, who we imagine can easily afford childcare help right along with housing and groceries, but that doesn't mean their emotions about leaving their little ones behind don't still get all twisted up.

If they do share, it'd probably be wise to tiptoe through the topic to try and avoid a backlash, but I can't wholly agree it's "not an OK thing" for celebrity moms to say their lives are sometimes difficult.

Why or why not?

Do you think it's OK for famous moms to complain about difficulties?

Photo: PR Photos

More famous females open up about motherhood:

Surprise! Ellen Pompeo welcomes baby #2!

by

Carolyn Robertson

posted in Celebrities

A surprise baby announcement out of Hollywood today: Grey's Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo and her husband Chris Ivery have welcomed their second child.

The 44-year-old actress, who is already mom to 5-year-old daughter Stella Luna, managed to keep her big news under wraps until this afternoon. She posted a sweet photo of the family's new addition to Instagram, writing, "Sienna May Ivery welcome to the world. We love you more than words can say."

Ellen later shared a few more details, Tweeting, "Sienna was born via surrogate & I would like to thank my whole @ShondalandTV family for helping us enjoy these first few weeks privately ❤️U."

After welcoming Stella in 2009, Ellen confessed that she was enjoying motherhood more than she thought she would: "[It's] much more fun than I ever thought it would be," she admitted. "I wasn't really ever one of those girls who was like dying to have kids so young. I didn't really give it much thought, actually, but I'm so glad I did."

It's not often that a celebrity manages to keep such big news under the radar! Congratulations to Ellen and family on their adorable new arrival.

Which other famous families have welcomed babies via a surrogate? Find out!

Photo: PR Photos

Hear Jennifer Garner's hilarious head lice story

by

Carolyn Robertson

posted in Celebrities

Jennifer Garner really is just like us! Well, kind of.

The mom-of-three - she has kids Violet, 8, Seraphina, 5, and Samuel, 2 - stopped by the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon this week, where she told a hilariously awful story about... head lice. It seems there's more to being a Hollywood mama than red carpets and couture clothes. Even the rich and famous aren't immune to this particular dreaded childhood "milestone."

See Jennifer's funny account of her battle with head lice, in which she recounts a greasy first meeting with George Clooney and does a pretty terrible impersonation of her husband Ben Affleck.

I love it!

The fact that Jennifer Garner is willing to open up in front of millions of viewers about being itchy, oily, smelly and infested with vermin just solidifies her status as one of my favorite celebrity moms. Way to keep it real, Jen.

Head lice is one thing we've not yet had to deal with in our house - knock on wood! We got a letter home from my oldest daughter's school last year warning of an infestation, but thankfully we managed to get through it unscathed.

Of course, that could all change. With the kids back at school and winter on its way, the threat of head lice looms large. It may be time to review BabyCenter blogger Kristina Sauerwein's tips on how to avoid the little bugs. Is anyone feeling a little itchy all of a sudden?

As for Jennifer, next up for her is the family-friendly flick Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, based of course on the popular book of the same title by Judith Viorst.

Comment

Has your family had to deal with lice?

More of our favorite famous moms open up about motherhood...

Photo: INFPhoto.com

NFL's Devon Still shows the true face of fatherhood

by

Carolyn Robertson

posted in Celebrities

Devon Still is a defensive tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals, but these days the 25-year-old is focusing on something much more important than football: His 4-year-old daughter Leah.

On June 2, 2014, Leah was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma stage 4 cancer. He shared the devastating news on Instagram, writing, "If y'all know me y'all know this girl is my world I know that she is strong and she won't let anything hold her down without a fight."

The NFL pro's Instagram feed is a testament of his devotion to his adorable little girl, full of sentimental tributes and cute photos of the two of them together. Captioning a sweet pic of a daddy-daughter dinner date just weeks before Leah's diagnosis, he wrote: "I've been on a lot of dates but this is by far the most beautiful girl I've ever had the honor to sit across from."

Since that day in June changed everything, Still has been updating fans and followers on Leah's treatment and progress. When she started chemotherapy, he shaved his head in solidarity. When she had to spend days and nights at the hospital, he took up permanent residence on a metal cot beside her bed. When she went in for a 6-hour surgery to remove the tumor last week, he gave her an awesome pre-op prep talk that quickly went viral.

In the meantime, as Still and Leah battle this disease, football has had to take a backseat. In August he was cut from the Bengals, but the team showed its support by immediately signing him to the practice squad so that he could continue to bring in a salary and stay close to home to be there for his daughter.

“I completely understand where the Bengals were coming from when they cut me because I couldn’t give football 100 percent right now,” Still said at the time. “They could have washed their hands with me and said they didn’t care about what I was going through off the field. It’s like a blessing in disguise for me.”

Though Leah still has a long road of more chemotherapy and radiation ahead, they got some good news last week: The surgery successfully removed all of the tumor. "Best news I've received in a long time," said the relieved dad.

With the NFL making headlines for all kinds of horrible reasons in recent months, the story of Devon Still and his devotion to his beautiful little girl stands as a touching example of what fatherhood really looks like. And fans have responded: The Bengals reported today that they've sold 10,000 Devon Still jerseys, and will be donating the $1 million proceeds toward paediatric cancer research.

Best wishes to Leah and to Devon as they continue their fight together.

These dads have made headlines, too - find out why!

Photo: Flickr/Parker Anderson

Kendra Wilkinson sent son away during cheating scandal

by

Sara McGinnis

posted in Celebrities

When hit with rumors her husband, Hank Baskett, may have cheated on her with a transsexual model, Kendra Wilkinson thought it best to keep her newborn daughter at her side but send their 4-year-old son Hank IV away for a while.

Opening up about the tough decision, the reality star told People , "When the news broke, I flipped on Hank and told him to get out of the house. But then I allowed him to come back and get Little Hank, because we knew there was going to be this s--- storm. I had to calm down and really just think logically and figure out what the right thing to do was."

A look back at the family's day out together in April, while Kendra was still pregnant with daughter Alijah:

"I was like, you need to take him and just hide out for a while," she continued, explaining she asked her husband to take their son to New Mexico, where Hank's parents live. "But what was so hard about it was that I felt I just gave my son away to the man who'd cheated on his family."

"It was so gross to me, but I knew in the back of my mind that he's a great father, and is the only one who could protect his son. If he'd stayed here, he'd have been hounded. If I took him to preschool, to the movies, I would not feel safe. But giving Little Hank to Hank to go to New Mexico was probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life."

That does sound tremendously hard, but to be honest this whole Hank Baskett cheating scandal thing just isn't passing the sniff test for me.

I've seen clips of Kendra crying, and she does seem genuinely upset, but the whole premise is just so tabloid-sounding. Yes, real life is sometimes really crazy, but the way they're filming so much of the drama for their show -- and especially how they are still not saying if the rumors were true or not (even People reports he "may" have cheated -- just isn't sitting right with me.

My money (that is, if I had any I was willing to gamble on reality television with) is that the season finale of Kendra On Top is going to include a climactic lie detector test, which Hank will pass. A penny for your thoughts?

Weigh in

Do you think sending a child away to their grandparents in the midst of family drama is the best thing to do?

Photo: PR Photos

More stars who've been tangled up in cheating scandals

Why Kristen Bell keeps letting Dax Shepard knock her up

by

Sara McGinnis

posted in Celebrities

Kristen Bell isn't saying much about her 2014 pregnancy, but she's happy to gush about her husband, Dax Shepard.

Sharing only that baby two is due "hopefully sometime soon," the actress told People they had been "completely stumped" on a baby name, but have recently made progress.

"We had a little bit of a breakthrough. We’ve settled on one, thankfully," the 34-year-old Frozen star, who gave birth to daughter Lincoln 18 months ago, explained. "It’s a lot of pressure, especially because we felt ‘Lincoln’ was so perfect."

Regarding that sweet tattoo of a bell Dax recently got on his ring finger, Kristen Bell admitted, "It was surprising. He just came home with a Band-Aid on his finger one day." She went on to joke, "Those are the kinds of surprises I get at home. And people wonder why I keep letting him knock me up."

Take a look at the ink here, which the proud dad showed off during a recent appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show:

I typically cringe when couples get tattoos, because it just seems like some sort of a curse, but Dax's ink is pretty darn sweet! Lucky him his lady love has such an image-based last name.

My husband and I each have a couple of tattoos and have talked for years about going sometime to get something together (not names or each other's faces, mind you) but can never quite come up with what it should be. At this point, it's probably never going to actually happen.

Share with us

Who has tattoos in your family? What are they of?

Photo: PR Photos

More stars who sport ink:

Photos: Check out North West's chic, edgy toddler style!

by

Carolyn Robertson

posted in Celebrities

They grow up so fast!

Paris Fashion Week has been a family affair for Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. The style-obsessed couple brought their 1-year-old daughter North along to Balenciaga’s runway show on Wednesday night, where they took in the season's hottest trends from the front row.

All eyes are usually on Kimye, but that night it was little North who stole the show. Dressed all in black - she was sporting a Yeezus T-shirt from her dad's recent tour and a pleated leather skirt from her mom's Kardashian Kids clothing line - the absolutely adorable toddler marched her little lace-up biker boots right into the VIP entrance.

I must admit, I've never seen toddler style quite like that before. Kim has previously revealed that she refuses to dress her daughter in pink, and it looks like she meant it! The reality star describes North's style as “simple, classic and really chic.”

Though she was holding mom's hand as she toddled around, it looks like it won't be long before North, who turned 1 in June, will be walking - make that strutting - all on her own.

Comment

What do you think of Kim and Kanye's chic style for North?

Love North West's edgy look? Check out the rest of the Kardashian Kids collection...

Photos: REX USA