To the overworked and underrated moms of the world: Sarah Jessica Parker got you.
No, really. It may be hard to believe that an A-list celebrity who has just been named by Forbes as one of the highest paid women in Hollywood (next to Angelina Jolie) might have anything in common, say, Tole, Ohio Many grocery store clerks, she attends night school, parents and three children are alone.
Her life is Prada and most moms are Payless.
But not always. Growing up in a mixed-race family of eight children, first in Ohio and then in a cheap jersey wholesale suburb near New York City, she watched her mom and stepfather struggle. In fact, when Parker was 13 years old when she starred in Annie on Broadway, she first earned a handsome salary for her performance, which helped make up for the family’s meagre income.
This month, Parker, 46, starred in a new film I Don’t Know How She Did It, based on Alison Pearson’s bestseller, playing a Busy mum Parker said she knew very well. The actor and producer has won multiple Golden Globes, Emmys, and SAG Awards, best known for her lead role as Carrie Bradshaw on the HBO drama/comedy series Sex and the City , and has appeared in several films including Footloose, LA Story, and Smart People.
“Where I’m from did it as a kid, seeing how hard my mom worked, and now seeing all the ways moms are good moms today in every way—we all want the same thing, right Right? The kids are safe, healthy and cared for,” she said.
Parker and her husband, actor Matthew Broderick, now have three children together – son James Wilkie, 8, There are twin daughters, Tabitha and Loretta, who turn 2 in June. If both parents are working, they have a nanny to look after the twins and a nanny to pick up James from school, but they don’t have live-in help. Parker is a hands-on mom, as the dozens of paparazzi who constantly chase her through New York City playgrounds can attest.
She laughs as a “only” as she recalls James Wilkie’s relatively light-hearted days. “A kid? I can take him anywhere! When we go out alone now, he’s like, ‘Ah, like it used to be, Mom!'” she said. (They just recently had such a short trip to see the premiere of the last Harry Potter movie.) “Or when I take a girl to the grocery store by myself, I don’t dare Believe I only have a pram and no one can chase. But, I would hear, ‘Where’s Tata? I want to see Tata!’
“People seem surprised that we don’t want one that has A life with lots of outside help,” Parker said. “We love having wonderful people in our lives who are willing to help care for our children and love them. But it’s nice to close the door and know it’s just your family. There’s something wonderful and private about it. And I love that the people who take care of my kids get back to their families and spend time with them and tell them what a tough day they had in our house! “
Joining career and family, Parker said she was easily connected to Kate Reddy, who Kate Reddy) is the main reason she gave up her day job in I don’t know how she did it /i>. In fact, she quit her day job on the Sex and the City series One is that she spends too much time away from her children.
“I say “yes” to this part because it so accurately describes being a person who wants a life that includes working outside the home What a mother is and how complicated those decisions are and the consequences of those choices,” she said. (Every mother who misses a childhood milestone will think of Parker as she walks the streets of Boston as a nanny takes her son for the first time Crying while getting a haircut.) “Her life was different than mine, but I involved a lot. I can understand her inner conflict between wanting to be thoughtful professionally and giving her kids and husband what they need. “
Parker says she’s very aware of the difficult, sunrise-to-sunset days that so many moms go through — no, she emphasizes, mom loves herself and has a line of fragrances , movie premieres, and a seven-figure payday, but mom likes her own.
“I try very hard not to suggest that I’m having trouble in my life. My work is voluntary, and I have it much easier than I imagine most women who do it with very little financial support and resources, or may be alone, with no good parenting options, “She said.
“The most inspiring people to me are people who don’t have a choice and how they make their lives work. Here are the women we haven’t heard of, who work two or three jobs at a time and build rich, good, healthy lives for their children from almost nothing—that’s the real story. ”
Parker himself wants to declare a ceasefire in mom wars.
Breastfeeding vs bottle feeding? Daycare vs babysitting vs staycation Home? Parker thinks we all just need to take a break from each other. “I’m not surprised there is competition between moms, but I’ll never fully understand how we compete and compare. My house is with my kids, your house is with your kids,” she said.
What can we do to end the mommy wars— At least in our own home?
Remember you don’t know what’s going on in other people’s lives, and they don’t know what’s going on in yours, Dr. Susan Newman Said, a social psychologist and author of several books on parenting, who recently published the The Only Child Case. “Be confident in your own decisions, but only because others make different choices. , that doesn’t mean she’s a bad mom. “
Consider the source. If people criticize your parenting style, they may have ulterior motives. Your mother-in-law told you that you need to have a second child, “only child” is painful and may think Want more grandchildren, but she won’t be the kid who wakes up at 3am.
Find your mom squad. Hang out with like-minded moms. You don’t need a cheerleading squad chorus, but I have at least one unbiased “mom friend” who will give you a hug and tell you all is well, which can be a huge relief.
Parenting also sheds new light on Parker’s lifelong commitment—her role as a UNICEF (unicefusa.org) ambassador.
“From my earliest childhood, I always remember going out trick or treating for UNICEF,” she recalls, noting that her mother was passionate about the organization she taught her children to share.” Our holiday cards and our only family calendar are from UNICEF. It will always be a part of my life. “
Parker has served as a UNICEF ambassador since 1997, and his latest efforts for the international children’s charity include launching a new initiative that “is working to change the ravages of the developing world,” she said. The process of the AIDS epidemic. “At the Global Business Alliance’s 10th Anniversary Conference on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in June, Parker introduced the project, the HIV/AIDS Innovation Fund, to key business leaders involved in advancing global health.
The idea is to bring together top HIV experts with business and philanthropic leaders to provide the seed funding needed to identify relatively low-cost interventions that have the potential to save many lives, and to make those moves quickly Flexibility to implement.
In 2007, Parker served as the country spokesperson for the launch of the UNICEF tap project. During World Water Week in March, restaurants across the country asked customers to Donate $1 or more for their often free glass of tap water. “Every bit of that money goes to UNICEF’s clean water programs in developing countries,” Parker said. (So far, the program has raised nearly $2.5 million.)
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