We like to look up to famous people as these perfect demi-gods who can do no wrong, but in reality, they’re mere mortals like the rest of us — and they make parenting blunders along with the majority of the population.
In fact, these celebrities shared their parenting mistakes with the world so we don’t have to feel so alone in our own. From Kim Kardashian’s spray tan breastfeeding misstep to Kristen Bell’s misadventures in poop, get ready to feel a whole lot better about your parenting.
Originally published July 2016. Updated July 2017.
Halle Berry
Halle Berry had the heart-stopping moment every mom has experienced when she thought she lost her child while out shopping. She turned around, and suddenly her daughter was gone. Berry panicked, but luckily her daughter popped out from the shadows just moments later.
Emily Mortimer
Emily Mortimer found herself facing a mortifying parenting mistake at a Mommy and Me class. She recalls the look of horror on other moms’ faces as her son pulled a pack of cigarettes from her purse instead of his pacifier and then proceeded to strut around the YMCA, holding up her Marlboro Lights like a trophy.
Jennifer Garner
The third-child-struggle is all too real for Jennifer Garner, who admits to sometimes forgetting she has a third child. While on Ellen, Garner described how she found herself playing with her two older children and suddenly realized she’d put the baby down somewhere. She found him playing happily on his own in another room, so no worries!
Brad Pitt
You know how your kids love to move at a glacial pace when you really need to get out the door? Well, Brad Pitt’s kids do the same thing. Pitt admits to sometimes giving them Coca-Cola and telling them to drink it all just to get them up and out of the house (and to put on their damn shoes).
Kelly Ripa
Kelly Ripa is no stranger to the overwhelming mom guilt of accidentally hurting your child. When her son was 20 months old, she tripped down the stairs while holding him. The fall was so bad that he had to get stitches on his head. Ripa spent the next year sliding down the stairs on her rump because the mom guilt she felt was just too much.
Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris’ family holidays may seem like the sort of affairs that put your parenting to shame, but even his tremendous efforts can be thrown off course by the whims of a toddler. After spending Christmas Eve staying up until 2:00 a.m. building a wooden train set for his son, Gideon, he was upstaged by cleaning supplies, as his son decided a broom was a way better toy to play with come Christmas morning.
Kristen Bell
Kristen Bell is the queen of keeping it real, and parenting is no exception. She totally admits to not knowing whether that is poop or avocado smeared all over her house, and honestly, it’s probably best not knowing. Just keep on moving, and try to keep them alive, right?
Elizabeth Banks
Every mom has a terrible poop story — even Elizabeth Banks. In an interview with What to Expect, Banks dished about a time she went out to a restaurant, only to be interrupted by her baby’s diarrhea blowout. She had to carry her poop-covered infant through a room full of diners, only to find that the bathrooms had no changing tables. She changed him right there on the bathroom floor, because a mom’s gotta do what a mom’s gotta do.
Mila Kunis
While preparing for a road trip with her daughter, Mila Kunis made sure she covered all her bases with packing. However, once she was on the road, she looked back to discover she had left her daughter unbuckled! Luckily she was able to safely pull to the side of the road and strap her into the car seat, but it just goes to show that every mom makes mistakes.
Hilary Duff
Shopping with children is always a challenge, and there are certain places you really ought to avoid when you have a toddler in tow. Hilary Duff made the unfortunate mistake of trying to take her child into the ornament section of Bloomingdale’s, which she described as her “worst idea of the day.”
Pink
Anyone who has ever dropped the F-bomb in front of their chlid can definitely relate to Pink, who admitted on Ellen that her daughter has inherited quite the potty mouth from her mother. The singer described her daughter as an “adorable little sailor.”
Megan Fox
Sometimes the grossest moments are the ones that really let us know we’ve “made it” as mothers. Megan Fox realized she was totally changed by motherhood when her son peed through his diaper and onto her pants. The star admits she didn’t even look for a wipe; she just let it air-dry, something she says her former germophobe self would have found cringeworthy.
Julie Bowen
Julie Bowen had a Modern Family-worthy mom fail while pumping to breastfeed her twins. Bowen had taken to multitasking by pumping while driving, which worked well until one day she forgot she was attached to her pump while flagging over a police officer in traffic to ask what was going on. She immediately regretted her decision and hoped the officer wouldn’t think she was drunk.
Jennifer Lopez
If you’ve ever caught your kid singing along to some inappropriate lyrics on the radio, you’re not alone. Jennifer Lopez swore she would never record a song called “Big Booty,” but after her twins heard the track, they went wild and insisted she include it on her new album.
Molly Sims
This model mama admitted to skipping out on tummy time with her little one, a fact that she became hyperaware of when his cousin (who was only three weeks older) was already crawling and standing. She confessed that Mommy and Me classes had brought out a competitive streak in her, and she vowed to get back to working on tummy time to catch up.
Tina Fey
Tina Fey always makes us laugh with her hilarious takes on parenting, but while she unapologetically rips on the hard parts of parenthood, she isn’t immune to making mistakes like the rest of us. Fey decided to let her daughter crawl into bed with her infant sibling, only to overhear her whispering to the baby, “Hello, beautiful eyes. Do you mind if I party with you?”
Gwyneth Paltrow
Not even health goddess Gwyneth Paltrow can get her kids to eat their vegetables all the time. The star admitted that as her children got older, their desire for junk food definitely overshadowed their desire for things like carrots and hummus. She’s decided to loosen up the reins when they are out of the house and let the Oreos win every now and again.
Tori Spelling
Tori Spelling was not prepared for what life as a mom of five was going to be like. The star was overwhelmed making the transition to four kids even, and admitted in an interview that she was making a resolution to stop reproducing.
Kim Kardashian
When a breastfed baby’s hungry, they’ve got to be fed. But Kim Kardashian found out the hard way that you might want to wipe your spray tan off before nursing. When asked by Chrissy Teigen if she’d ever seen photos of babies who had orange faces from their breastfeeding mom’s tanning goop, Kim confessed that little North West had an orange glow once because she’d forgotten to wipe down.
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