Celebs Weigh in On Motherhood

Jennifer Garner

mom to Violet Anne Affleck (7), Seraphina Rose Elizabeth Affleck (4), Samuel Garner Affleck (10 months)

Now that she’s a mom, Jennifer Garner gets it. She says:

“I call my mom now and say, ‘You know all the dinners you made that I said ‘No’ to and went off and ate peanut butter? I’m sorry. I get it.’ I slaved over roasting this, and (Violet) goes, ‘No, no, no!’ “

Courteney Cox

mom to Coco Riley Arquette (8)

Courteney Cox always felt suited to the role of mom. She says:

“I’m the one that you come to when you have a problem. I love it, and I’m really good at it.”

Katie Holmes

mom to Suri Cruise (6)

Motherhood is universal according to Katie Holmes, who says:

“My daughter was with me the other day at a work event and it was a long day. I took out some paper and markers that I had in my bag, and someone said to me, ‘Oh, that is so cute,’ and I looked at her and thought, ‘No, this is not cute. This is what all mothers have to do.'”

Kourtney Kardashian

mom to Mason Dash Disick (3), Penelope Scotland Disick (7 months)

Coming from a large family didn’t help prepare Kourtney Kardashian for motherhood, but she picked it up on the job. She says:

“Being the oldest in my family, you would think I would have been in tune with kids. I had no clue. I think motherhood is just about instinct. I remember coming home from the hospital and having no idea what we were doing. Scott and I changed his diaper together, but after a day, it was like ‘Oh!’ I got it.”

Jessica Alba

mom to Honor Marie Warren (4), Haven Garner Warren (1)

Jessica Alba proves that even celebs aren’t immune to mommy guilt when she says:

“I always feel guilty when I’m working and not with Honor. But I do love to work, and I know that will have a positive influence on who she becomes as a person and a woman.

Mary Louise Parker

mom to William Atticus Parker (9), Caroline ‘Ash’ Aberash Parker (7)

Kids put it all perspective for Mary Louise Parker, who says:

“They really put you in touch on how little you know and how little you are capable of and much you are capable of. They are very humbling, children. I am more patient now. I’ve become much more patient.”

Beyonce Knowles

mom to Blue Ivy Carter (1)

Motherhood gave Beyonce Knowles a new sense of purpose. She says:

“I realized why I was born and more than anything all of the things I want to pass onto my child and the best way of doing that is not by preaching or telling her but showing her by example, which is one of the reasons I’m here,”

Bethenny Frankel

mom to Bryn Casey Hoppy (2)

Waking her daughter is the best part of Bethenny Frankel’s day. She says:

“[The best part of my day is ]going into Bryn’s room when she gets up. She’s so excited, like a little bird hatching out of a shell: ‘Let’s do it!'”

Tina Fey

mom to Alice Zenobia Richmond (7), Penelope Athena Richmond (1)

Funnywoman Tina Fey takes it all in stride as she says:

“‘How do you juggle it all?’ people constantly ask me, with an accusatory look in their eyes. ‘You’re screwing it all up, aren’t you?’ their eyes say. My standard answer is that I have the same struggle as any working parent but with the good fortune to be working at my dream job. Or sometimes I just hand them a juicy red apple I’ve poisoned in my working-mother witch cauldron and fly away.”

Jessica Simpson

mom to Maxwell Drew Johnson (8 months), Baby #2 coming soon . . .

Motherhood has brought out a new side to Jessica Simpson, who says:

“There are little things that you kind of obsess over. I never knew how protective I was until I had my own child.”

Kelly Ripa

mom to Michael Joseph Consuelos (15), Lola Grace Consuelos (10), Joaquin Antonio Consuelos (8)

Busy actress and talk show host, Kelly Ripa, can relate to working moms everywhere. She says:

“Guilt for me is something that I still struggle with. I always feel guilty. I think every working mother does have that guilt about failing in some way. But the way I’ve learned to sort of balance it is just by knowing that I’m going to fail everybody a little bit every day. Nobody’s going to get hurt. So I just have to sort of relieve myself of feeling the pressure to do everything perfectly every day.”

Sarah Jessica Parker

mom to James Wilkie Broderick (9), Marion Loretta Elwell Broderick (3), Tabitha Hodge Broderick (3)

Fear may be inevitable, but according to the chic Sarah Jessica Parker, it’s a necessary. She says:

“It’s good to be scared. You should be! Love is scary and friendship is scary and children, even more so. I remember laying in bed before my son was born, quite pregnant, thinking ‘I’m going to ruin him. The first thing I say to him that’s meaningful is going to scar him for life. I’m going to mean to be helpful, and it’s just going to destroy him, and he’s going to spend the rest of his life flat out on a couch in a therapist’s office.”

Gwen Stefani

mom to Kingston James McGregor Rossdale (6), Zuma Nesta Rock Rossdale (4)

Becoming a mom forced the  rocker, Gwen Stefani, to grow up. She says:

“I’ve never had to grow up in a way. When you think about it, [the band was] in college together, and then we made our first record, and then we just took off and stayed in this bubble, but then when you have a family of your own, it forces you to go into the adult world a little bit more.”