Let It Go J-Lo

Oh, Joy-lo! Yet another celeb perfect parent has emerged to make us feel bad about ourselves.

Gucci Campaign via

It's the divine Jennifer Lopez this time. Now the mother of 3-year-old twins she says she has no nanny and that family members take turns baby-sitting. In the interview  her manager also says she lays out three outfits for her kids and her husband every day before she leaves. "Every day! She may not be there for breakfast, but by the time she leaves they all have three different outfits."

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Ms Lopez who's lately shed the Diva to become the darling judge of American Idol insists: "I know how to say 'no' now. I say: 'I'm tired, I can't do this. I'm not doing that tomorrow.' I have kids now, so my life is not completely my own. They come first." But it's hard to think of what she has let go when she remains the all-singing, all-dancing international star with a loving husband and bountylicious bod. Just look at this vid and weep.

Image: Getty via

CADENA PIX/Bauer-Griffin via

The message is that even La Lopez can't have it all, though she does seem to be keeping all the balls in the air. The rest of us, including many of my friends who admit to being A-type, have to let something go.

Of course the obvious question is: why are we holding ourselves to these unattainable standards anyway? One busy parent at school told me: "Failing frequently, that's who I am". This is a woman with three children and a full-time job. A woman who looks after her mother and works seemingly round-the-clock for the school and at least one charity fundraiser. Failing frequently?

Blogger Joslyn brought to my attention an interview on Momfilter with Pulitzer prize-winning writer Anna Quindlen who says:

"I think having bright lines and boundaries really worked for us, that it made our kids strong and secure because they were clear on expectations and responsibilities. But I wish I had been better able to combine that with letting things go a little bit. Nobody really needs a bath every night. Nobody really needs a balanced meal for every meal. I should have let the freak flag fly a bit more. It’s hard to be a Type A mom. I wish I could have been a bit more B plus, for my sake and their own. "

I'm uptight about keeping the house clean and tidy. (The car, not so much) Seeing the kids start an art project - or baking - only makes me think about how much there will be to clean up. My solution: we have cleaners three times a week. (I'm ashamed to admit that.)

My Silver Scream Life: cleaning up before the cleaners arrive

On the other hand I feel I'm flying the "freak flag" a little too often. Here comes the Slacker Mum again.

* This season I missed all of:  Jackson's baseball games, Tallulah's soccer games and Harley's basketball games. (So where was I driving to all-day every-day I ask myself?)

*Day-time I look like Granny Clampette, with no make-up, daggy hair, UGG boots, bobbly old brown cardy and assorted long weird items.

* I've given up on buying party gifts. My kids give money in an envelope. Unbelievably crass, I know. But other parents have confided that gift cards languish in a drawer and gifts end up broken and in the re-cycling. 

Have you let anything go?