Could parenting advice from celebrities ever be a good idea?



At Manners for Modern Mothers, we might be slow to catch up with trends in celebrity culture. In fact, celebrity news might only come to our attention due to a long line at a “conventional” grocery store, a wait in a well-subscribed dentist's office, or, in this case, much chatter in the blogosphere. 

And so, we have only recently discovered a controversy surrounding Gwyneth Paltrow and her purported penchant for administering parenting advice via her blog, GOOP, specifically her recent advice for working mothers, which includes such recommendations as: (1) "condense" your appointments by having weekly spa treatments simultaneously (e.g., manicure, pedicure, facial all at once) (2) don't forget your hands free mobile phone device so you can return calls after dropping kids off at school. 


Since we are not celebrities, but nevertheless frequently share our own thoughts on parenting via this blog, we should probably be the last to ask why anyone would consider a film star a good source for parenting tips. Nor would it be mannerly to incite wanton celebrity criticism, but we are curious. Readers, do you find her annoying?  Do you support Gwyneth as a role model? Or, are you just wondering how people find the time to form such strong opinions of public figures? 

* image from instyle.com

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sure. Has anyone run a few numbers on how much these "time saving tips" cost Gwyneth and her friends? Celebrity advice: Have a lot of money, use it to save time, be smug and self satisfied about how you have it all figured out. Ugh.

Anonymous said...

I don't think her advice is bad. Its similar to what you see everywhere else about managing your time and the like. What's so bad about that?

Lisa Rich said...

I am wondering where her strict workout regime and restrictive diet fit in to her busy schedule? But hey, whatever floats your boat. I stroll to school pickup listening to my iPod, can't even find my cellphone (and does it even have a hands-free attachment?), won't need a pedicure again until flipflop season, and the first-last-only time I had a facial, the fire alarms went off during my relaxing time. I can only hope for an uninterrupted shower time long enough for me to wash and condition my hair and shave my legs. We all do what we can do, I guess.

Anonymous said...

loved the harshing on Gwyneth on that guy's obscene post! probably could put that negative energy to better use, but whatever. it was funny.

EHP said...

OK so that's what inspired this post. I was just sort of surprised and curious about all that negative energy. Wow. I probably should have added that there were a few positive reviews too.

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