LilSugar

Lil's Favorite Five: Fabulous Moms Over 50

LilSugar — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 06:00:17 -0700

Men may age like fine wine, but nothing is more attractive than a woman who struts her stuff after she has hit the half century mark and had children. Today Madonna, mother to Lourdes, Rocco and David, meets that milestone. Happy Birthday to the material girl who now joins the ranks of seasoned celebmamas who have aged gracefully in the public eye and raised offspring! Check out our favorite five talented mums. Source

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Interview With Alex McCord: Real Housewife Talks Children

LilSugar — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 08:00:11 -0700

Made famous by her family's everyday antics on Bravo's show, The Real Housewives of New York City, Alex McCord has written a parenting book that will hit bookstore shelves at the end of this year or the beginning of next. Rather than an instructional read, the text will be a he said, she said penned by Alex and her hubby, Simon, about raising their young sons - Francois, 5, and Johan, 3, - in an urban environment. And, since they don't always agree, Alex said it makes for an interesting read.

I recently had a chance to chat via phone with the reality star who wouldn't say who was the most maternal housewife or which castmates's parenting style she identified with, but was happy to dish on what really happened during last season's finale and the fact that she and Simon initially didn't plan to enter parenthood.

lilsugar: At a time in your children's lives when most parents are looking to purchase a parenting book, what made you feel equipped to write one?
Alex McCord: I remembered the books that resonated the most with me when I was pregnant and they were not how to books written by doctors and psychologists, but collections of stories about people living their lives with children and what happened - the good, the bad, the ugly - and by reading that you could see what they learned from it. I had started writing down stories myself in 2004 when I was a mom of one. And now that we have the show, we have the platform to do something like this. There's a huge demand for slice of life entertainment and that's the same viewpoint that we are approaching this book from. It's crazy, off the wall stories about something that happened when we were out with the kids, something that happened when we were at home and my take on it and Simon's take on it.

To see what Alex had to say about childcare and the construction hazards filmed in their home, read more.

lilsugar: What is unique about the way you and Simon are raising the boys?
Alex McCord: We share everything 50 percent. We are both so invested in giving our children a good experience. We live in a very liberal city and environment which we love and have a really strong family unit. We both lost our fathers at a very young age. Simon was 5 and I was 11 and you don't know how long you are going to get to be together. The relationships with your family are the primary thing that shapes your outlook on life. It's absolutely vital to make sure that it is high quality - it's the most important job you can do. We have an appreciation for that while having full lives that involve traveling, both of us working full time, though at the moment I am looking for work full time. We do a lot of things with our children that other people thought were strange. We traveled extensively with them since Francois was 13 days old. We also came into this not wanting to have children. When we first got together, as individuals we decided we did not want to be parents and then once we were married and had been together a while, we changed our minds and threw ourselves into the experience of being parents. We couldn't be happier the way things turned out.

lilsugar: On the show you had a live-in French speaking au pair. Is she still with you?
Alex McCord: The au pair program is just for a year so we had au pairs for three years and when we finished with our last au pair, we made the decision to bring on a full time nanny instead. She does not live with us, but is with us quite a lot. We were ready to have someone not live with us.

lilsugar: Can you speak to Francois's behavior in last season's finale? Was it just a long dinner and a restless child or is that the freedom of expression you want your children to have?
Alex McCord: Hardly. It was a bunch of things. It was our naivete about the way reality shows are put together. We had never watched reality shows before doing this show. It was a family dinner with all of the children expected to attend. Dinner ran two hours late because of late arrivals of the cast members. There's a lot that you didn't see that night. It's the job of the producers to create entertaining television and more often than not with children, no one wants to see beautiful children behaving beautifully. You don't see me taking for a time-out, you do see someone asking Simon if we let our children act this way, and he says, "Oh, yeah sure we do", but the sarcasm doesn't read. We were sorry to see that it came out the way it did.

lilsugar: Did you have any regret of allowing him to be filmed. Are you more protective as a result and is that why we see less of your sons this season?
Alex McCord: We wanted them to be involved to the extent that they wanted to be if that makes any sense. It's really difficult to film a show with children. There is a lot of waiting around and we need you to do this or that and that's not natural for kids. If you want to capture those moments that are real, then you really need to manage it so that they are in for a few minutes. If you get something great. It's not good TV for kids to be held in a room for hours. We tried to balance.

lilsugar: What about the safety hazards that were filmed in your home in both seasons? Or are those areas that were filmed, but are off limits to the boys?
Alex McCord: Completely. All the construction happened behind a dead bolted door that was sealed with plastic all over the entire doorway. For example, this season when we took Jill on a tour when we got home from St. Bart's, that was the first time they ever saw it.

lilsugar: Why didn't anyone tell me blank about motherhood?
Alex McCord: Why didn't anyone tell me how much a very jaded individual would love motherhood.

lilsugar: You know you're a mother when?
Alex McCord: You know you're a mother when you can have conversations with both your children at the same time while preparing dinner and tracing out a project for work.

lilsugar: What's the best trick your mother or father taught you?
Alex McCord: Don't condescend to your children.

lilsugar: Helicopter mom or free range kids?
Alex McCord: Neither. You never want to be a parental extreme, it's really a balance. There are times when you need to be right there with them and that can be construed as helicoptering and there are times when you really need to step back and let them do their own thing and make their own mistakes.

Everyone's got an opinion on this parenting book so don't forget anonymous comments are open.

How Do You Celebrate the Holidays?: meandtheo

LilSugar — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:00:47 -0800

Why wait to celebrate? This month a few lilsugar readers will be sharing their holiday plans, traditions and pastimes with us. Thanks to meandtheo for helping us kick off this festive feature!

Prior to parenthood, meandtheo and her husband vowed to travel the world and spend time enjoying one another. They lived in Europe and taught at an international school before settling down in San Francisco to start a family. They are now the proud mom and pop of Stella, 1. meantheo is a former kindergarten teacher turned stay-at-home mom and she said there are plans to give her daughter a sibling!

To see what makes the holidays special for meandtheo and her family, read more.

lilsugar: What is the most magical part of the holiday season for your family?
meandtheo: "The most magical part of the holidays for us is getting to be with all of our family and friends. We are transplants to San Francisco from Colorado so every year no matter where we are in the world we head "home" for the holidays. All of our family (my husband's and mine) and friends from back in the day are there and we get to spend good quality time with them. We always stay for at least a week and my mother-in-law hosts a holiday party for all of our friends and their families. We spend the time playing with nieces and nephews, laughing with old friends and staying up late catching up with our families. I wouldn't trade this time for anything. It is so special to us and I am so happy to take Stella back this year so she can really enjoy the holiday season with everyone. She made the journey last December but was just over two months old; this year she will start to understand what makes it so "magical"."

lilsugar: What is the hot wish list item in your household this year?
meandtheo: "The adults in the family rarely exchange gifts...the loot goes to all the kids. This year I am planning on giving Stella the Kettler Air Happy Bike, which our neighbor has and leaves parked in the driveway teasing poor little Stella...she heads for it every time we walk past their house, now she will have her own!"

lilsugar: What is your family's favorite holiday recipe?
meandtheo: "Monkey Bread...we have monkey bread every Xmas morning (yes oh so nutritious). after all the gifts have been opened and we sit down to our Xmas breakfast everyone is looking forward to the monkey bread that my mother-in-law has to make four loaves of...
The recipe is as follows:
2 Cans of BUTTERMILK Grands biscuits, 1 3/4 cup sugar, 3 tbs cinnamon, 1 full cup of butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar. Mix one cup of sugar & the cinnamon - dip cut up biscuit sections in this and arrange in a heavily greased bundt pan. Pour remaining cin sugar mix on top. Melt the butter and add the last 3/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup brown sugar - bring to a light boil. Pour over biscuit pieces. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.
*If I make it I always layer in a can of Apple Pie filling with the biscuits before baking, as well.*"

lilsugar: Do your children still believe in Santa?
meandtheo: "Stella is just starting to understand who Santa is, so the simple answer is yes."

Lil Gift Guide: The Pregnant Friend

babysugar — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 14:00:23 -0800

For our first gift-guide post, we are thrilled that the person we are giving to is the mother-to-be. Having been one, it was hard to narrow down just a few items that I liked when I was pregnant. Here are three presents that any pregnant lady would love (and need).

Under $50
My hot mama friends and I love Belly Mama Belly Oil (4 fl. oz. for $24). There are tons of belly rubs to choose from, but this one is great for stretch marks and dry skin - all the things a mom-to-be wants to avoid!

To check out the rest of my gift guide, read more

$50 to $100
When she's in the hospital with swollen ankles and sore parts, the last thing she will feel is cute. Dear Johnnies ($65 – $70) makes adorable pajamas and robes for women who have just had their babies. Their motto is "special gowns for special deliveries." These punch-colored gowns and polka-dotted robes will give the new mom just the pep she needs for all of those hospital paparazzi moments!

Over $100
As a woman's belly grows so does her sleep discomfort. You can help remedy the restless nights by getting your friend a body pillow that will mold to her form. The Tempur-Pedic Body Pillow ($150) may set you back just a tad but your friend will be eternally grateful.