Life with kids, while fulfilling and amazing, kinda sucks sometimes. It’s dirty and sticky and loud, and on the hard days, it can feel like you’re all alone, screwing things up, wondering how in the world your kids will ever grow up to be normal, well-functioning adults. Moms know, rationally, that we all struggle, but most of those struggles take place behind closed doors where no one will ever see — except if you’re a celebrity mother who has decided to share all of those mom fails with the rest of us.
The up-the-back diaper explosions and sleepless nights; the toddler tantrums; the big kid mood swings — it’s easy to feel like you’re failing when every new stage comes with a learning curve the size of Mount Everest. That’s why we love to see moms like Chrissy Teigen, Gabrielle Union, and Jennifer Garner keeping it real and honest on social media. Sharing the downs and not just the ups makes us feel like we aren’t royally screwing up and that maybe, just maybe our own kids stand a chance.
When the celeb moms we’re used to seeing all polished and primped share the real side of motherhood — the dirty, sticky, tired, and sometimes hilariously relatable parts of motherhood — it warms our hearts. If moms like Kristen Bell and Jenna Dewan, who are rich and beautiful and have all the advantages, freak out about their baby’s poop or don’t understand why their 5-year-old took so long to potty train, well, it makes us feel that much better about our own parenting.
We love the famous moms who keep it real on their social channels, who share the nitty-gritty alongside the beautiful. They make us feel less alone and help us remember that the nitty-gritty is part of the beautiful, and that every mom, regardless of the numbers in their bank accounts, has long days (and long nights), that we’re all doing our best, and that sometimes, up-the-back poop just happens, as sh*t often does.
So here’s to some of our fave celeb moms who help us remember that motherhood is hard for everyone, and that even the most glamorous of us wipe butts, cry over chafed nipples, walk around with barf stains, and go to bed completely exhausted and completely full to the brim with love for our kids.
Jennifer Lawrence Questions All of Her Choices
Jennifer Lawrence and Viola Davis sat down for Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series, and the fellow mothers bonded over mom guilt and fails. Lawrence shared, “Every day of being a mom, I feel awful. I feel guilty.” She explained, “I’m playing with [my son] and I’m like, ‘Is this what he wants to be doing? Should we be outside? We’re outside. What if he’s cold? What if he’s going to get sick? Should we be inside? Is this enough? Is this developing your brain enough?'”
Viola Davis Starred in Her Own Greek Tragedy
During her conversation with Jennifer Lawrence for Variety, Viola Davis shared her own mom fail — she accidentally locked her daughter, Genesis, in the car once. “I had 50 million things on my plate,” Davis said, continuing, “My daughter was in the back. She’s happy and I’m just so stressed out going to Target. I walk out of the car, shut the door, and realize I don’t have my keys.”
She vulnerably and honestly explained, “I threw myself on the concrete, Jennifer. I screamed. You would think I was in a Greek tragedy. ‘My baby! Jesus!'” Davis continued, “And then I saw these two men. I grabbed their necks and said, ‘My baby is in the car! My baby!’ And then what do I have in my hand? My phone.”
She explained, “So the two men whose necks I’ve grabbed, they said, ‘Ma’am, you just have to call 911.’ And I said, ‘Oh, OK.’ So I called 911, and I proceeded to scream at the operator. Every expletive you can imagine came out of my mouth. They took her out of the car. And the reason why I’m telling you this story is it literally was seconds.”
Blake Lively Compares Her Kids to Drug Addicts
The unpredictable is a daily excursion with kids — especially babies, which Blake Lively knows all about. “Having a baby is just living in the constant unexpected,” the actress told the LA Times. “You never know when you’re gonna get crapped on or when you’re gonna get a big smile or when that smile immediately turns into hysterics. It might be like living with a drug addict.”
Serena Williams Can’t Figure Out Baby Equipment Either
Figuring it out isn’t a novel concept for Serena Williams, but when it comes to baby equipment, she admitted the learning curve is steep.
“I’ve conquered a lot of things… blood clots in my lungs — twice… knee and foot surgeries… winning grand slams being down match point… to name just a FEW,” she tweeted, “But I found out by far the hardest is figuring out a stroller!”
Mila Kunis Struggles to Keep Her Kids Alive, Too
Keeping kids alive is hard, especially when they aren’t doing you any favors! Mila Kunis knows all about this mom struggle, as she hilariously told Glamour, “Children are f—ing crazy,” regarding her daughter Wyatt. “They’re also suicidal. Like, at the park, certain jungle gyms have an opening for older kids to jump out of. She’s 19 months; she can’t jump. She just walks off it as if she’s on a pirate ship.”
Gwen Stefani Thinks About Running Away
Sometimes, as a mom, you just need a break — so much so that you fantasize about escaping to a Motel 6 for a few hours. At least, that’s what Gwen Stefani does.
“It gets crazy. Everybody knows that whole 4 to 8 at night is like chaos. It’s like the crazy time in our house,” she said on The Ellen Show. “The other day we were driving home and I was thinking, ‘OK, Motel 6. If I can just find one and go there and disappear. Disappear from my life.'”
Ali Wong Keeps It Real After a Long Day
“It’s personal pizza time! But really, it’s just cheese and tomato sauce toasted on an English muffin and mommy is exhausted so she’s turned dinner into a DIY arts and crafts project.”
Comedian Ali Wong is all of us after the end of a long day when we still have to feed the children and we just want it to be as painless as possible. The mother of two keeps us laughing with her amazing wit and hilarious admissions to what goes on behind the parenting scenes.
Ashley Graham Just Keeps on Inspiring Us
Ashley Graham has been an inspiration from day one. The body-positive plus-size supermodel has always advocated for accepting bodies the way they are and learning to be yourself in your skin — and becoming a mom didn’t change that one bit.
Since giving birth in 2020, she’s been vocal (and visual) about her post-partum body and we admire her even more for the mom truths she’s been dropping since baby Isaac was born.
“Before I was even pregnant, that was always my hope for women in general, that they could learn to continue to love their bodies through the changes and the ups and downs,” she told Kristen Bell in an interview for Elle.
“And then, when I got pregnant, I had to reimagine my relationship with my body with this creature inside me taking over. I was gaining weight so rapidly… At first, it felt devastating, and then when I met Isaac, I said, ‘No, this is exactly what every woman has talked about for ages. This is not just a battle wound. This is something that has changed my life forever, and I’m going to celebrate my new body.'”
Jennifer Garner Is Pure Mom Gold
Jennifer Garner is about as down-to-earth as celeb moms come. She posts up in front of the grocery store to sell Girl Scout cookies and dresses up for her kids’ birthday parties, and we can’t get enough.
Garner told People, “The absolute [greatest] thing about being a parent is that every day is a fresh start. You always can say, ‘Today we’re going to try this!’ “And if it goes horribly, you can say, ‘Today we’re throwing that out, and we’re trying this!’ That’s part of what I like about being a mom in general.”
Chrissy Teigen Is the Everymom
Chrissy Teigen is the social media mom supreme. The model and author’s authentic look at parenting is both heartwarming and hilarious, with her honesty about everything from mom-bod stretch marks to pregnancy loss garnering fans around the world.
“Every morning when I look at myself in the mirror, I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, how did it get here? My baby was, like, four pounds and I gained, like, 60 pounds, and that seems off!’” Teigen told Entertainment Tonight after the birth of her son, Miles.
“But, you know, I think everyone’s body is just really different. That’s why my posts of real mom stuff, and wearing the diaper, and having that mesh thing, and real postpartum business — I think as important as it is for people to see me do that, it’s also really important for me.”
Amy Schumer Tells the Unabashed Truth About Parenting
Amy Schumer has shown no shame in sharing what life is like since baby Gene joined the family in 2019. Whether it’s showing off her “cute” C-section scar in a nude bathroom selfie or a funny video about screentime, we love her honesty and no-holds-barred mom honesty.
Busy Philipps Knows All About Winging It
Actress Busy Philipps knows a thing or two about winging it as a parent. “I call myself the all-over-the-place, doesn’t-have-a-plan mom,” she told Parents. “Is that a parenting philosophy? On a daily basis, I’m just trying to hold it together. Our family has no absolute rules about screen time or sugar or anything. I mean, Marc and I were raised that way, and we turned out fine.”
Hilary Duff Hates Pumping at Work
Hilary Duff is a busy woman, and like so many of us, she has to figure out how to make it work while doing what’s best for her kids. In a 2019 Instagram post, Duff shared her thoughts on breastfeeding and pumping as a working mom.
“My goal was to get my little girl to six months and then decide if I (and her of course) wanted to keep going,” she wrote. “Let me tell you. Pumping at work sucks.”
Gabrielle Union-Wade Shares How to Roll With an Opinionated Toddler
Gabrielle Union-Wade isn’t afraid to share snaps and videos of her spirited daughter Kaavia’s big personality. To moms of spit-fire little ones everywhere, follow the actress’s lead and do your best to take it all in stride.
“She looks just like Dad, but I’d like to think the attitude is from me,” Union-Wade told People. “She will stare into your soul and tell you about yourself through her eyes.”
Jenna Dewan Reminds Us That It’s OK to Mess Up
If there’s one thing about Jenna Dewan‘s Instagram, it’s that she’s 100% honest about not being perfect and so vocal about treating yourself kindly.
“Didn’t nail it this week,” Dewan wrote alongside a post. A lot of things I wish I handled a little differently. As someone who has always been a little too hard on myself, I’ve also realized it’s pretty healing to just accept you’re not perfect. When you have the best of intentions but it doesn’t always go the way you were hoping and you take a moment to look at your harried self in the mirror and it’s okkkkkk. it’s all about growing and learning anyways. Go lightly, people.”
Kristen Bell Makes Us Laugh Through the Hard Times
Even though she doesn’t share her kids’ faces on social media, Kristen Bell‘s social media parenting posts are so hilarious and relatable that her life feels just as crazy as ours. Take, for example, this video in which her kids made her “cinnamon toast” … with cayenne pepper.
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