Entertainment
5 Awesomely Down-To-Earth Quotes From Blake Lively On Parenting & Motherhood
One would assume that a rich, beautiful movie star who's best known for playing a teen millionaire named Serena van der Woodsen and then running her own lifestyle brand would be completely unrelatable, particularly once said actress starts reproducing with a rich, handsome superhero. One would be wrong, though, because Blake Lively's quotes on motherhood and pregnancy show that the old axiom is true: Stars, they're just like us. At least some of them.
Sure, Lively can easily afford all the childcare she needs, as well as a personal trainer and a nutritionist to get her post-baby body back in a shape that too many people expect of women who have just given birth. And she certainly lucked out with an awesome co-parent in Ryan Reynolds (although dad's movies are wildly inappropriate for a toddler). But she still sounds a lot like plenty of average moms I know, like when she's talking about how raising a baby isn't as glamorous as some make it seem, or when she complains about having to go from postpartum to model-thin in just eight months (sure, it was so she could star in a summer blockbuster movie, but I'm sure it was still hard). Lively seems less like that seemingly-perfect mom everyone secretly hates, and more like the mom who sits in the back of the PTA meetings and snarks with her friends (even if she is snarking in $500 cashmere yoga pants).
On Social Media Showoffs
Lively called out all those Pinterest-perfect parents who make everything look so easy during a June Late Night appearance. She described a mom she used to follow on Instagram: "She just made having a baby look lovely. Everything is white, she always has a fresh blueberry pie." Then she describes her own experience. "My kid is playing with, like, explosive devices. I don't know where she's found them." Don't believe the hype; parenting is not all arts and crafts projects!
On Post-Baby Bodies
Speaking to Australia's Herald Sun while promoting The Shallows, Lively acknowledged the pressure women face to lose their pregnancy weight: "There shouldn’t be that negative 'ugh' after someone has a baby. Your body is so beautiful. You couldn’t walk a Victoria’s Secret runway but it’s beautiful in a completely different and incredible way and I do wish I had the bravery to go out there and represent women as they actually look."
On Privilege
Lively is a rich and famous movie star, so her experience isn't quite the same as the average working mom's. Luckily, she understands that. "When you are looking at your child and she's laughing, it's hard to do anything else," she said, according to the Daily Mail. She knows she's lucky to have a job where she can "run between work and baby," and admitted that she gets some outside help, saying that her parents are "pretty much the nannies."
On Identity
In a Marie Claire UK interview, Lively shared that once she had a baby, everyone was asking her if she planned to dress differently now that she's a mom. "People really expect that you’re suddenly a different woman, and I think it strips a woman’s identity in a way that is kind of strange." Preach! Motherhood doesn't necessarily change a woman (other than making her exhausted for the rest of her life).
On Kids Saying The Darnedest Things
The best thing about having a toddler, hands down, is the cute way they mispronounce words. During a July Tonight Show appearance, Lively explains the interesting pronunciations her 19-month-old daughter, James, has for "sit" and "socks" (don't worry; they bleeped her).
Thanks for keeping it real, Blake. If I can make one suggestion, though, try going out in public with a spit-up stain on your shirt once in a while. Everybody's doing it!
