Sarah Jessica Parker, the Sex and the City star, and mom of James, 5, chatted with Parade magazine about being a mom. I think the piece really revealed how Sarah Jessica and her hubby Matthew Broderick differ from other celebuparents. Not only does the couple live in New York (which puts them less often in the spotlight than Los Angeles actor parents) but their no-frills parenting is largely based on SJP’s childhood — she was one of eight kids, and grew up impoverished. Here are some of the highlights from the interview (including some SATC movie talk!):
On her very un-Hollywood parenting: “[My son] only wears hand-me-downs because I’ve got all these older nephews. That’s the God’s honest truth. Plus, my mother saved all my brothers’ clothes. I am not kidding. I don’t think I’ve ever bought him any clothes. Maybe a new winter’s coat…I do buy him shoes, because everybody’s feet are different.”
On how her childhood affected her as a mom: “I think that if I had been raised a child of privilege, I wouldn’t be the working person I am today. I think it’s incumbent on my and me to really stress and to show James Wilkie by example what it means to owe your community something and that he is not entitled to the benefits of our hard work…That doesn’t mean that I’m withholding or keeping from him the joys of childhood — I’m not Joan Crawford. But I also don’t want him to think the world he lives in is the real world. It’s not.”
On being a hands-on mom: “I put him to bed every night. I get him dressed. I’m the one who gives him his toothbrush. I take him to school every morning. [James is] very small, but his personality is 6-foot 4.”
On the SATC movie: “Carrie and Charlotte and Miranda and Samantha aren’t young anymore. Their lives are much less frivolous. They can’t cope with their problems by putting on their sweats and staying up all night and ordering in food and gossiping about the men in their lives…There is less self-absorption but perhaps a little more self-awareness.”
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