Once upon a time, not that long ago, most of us had no idea what celebrities' babies looked like. Yeah, we might have heard that some popstar had become a parent, but we didn't know what the kids looked like, and we never saw photos of them walking to their cars or going to the supermarket. Now we know so much about celebrities' kids that they don't even need surnames to be recognized - Blue Ivy and Suri are household names, and not, like most little kids, just in their own households.
Many of the celebrities have no choice in this matter, and are clearly uncomfortable with their children being pushed into the public eye - like Kristen Bell, who campaigned for a boycott of magazines that use paparazzi photos of children.
Others, however, have embraced the family limelight. Maybe it's because they think "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em - and at least show your children off on your own terms". Whatever their motivation, plenty of stars are happy to welcome photographers into their homes (or hotels pretending to be their homes) to show off their suspiciously perfect children (seriously, where's all the snot and tantrums and food in the hair? What sort of alien toddlers are they?).
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And now it seems that the demand for insights into the lives of "celebrity mums" is so big, we need a whole magazine devoted to it. Richard Desmond, publisher of OK! magazine among other more, um, adult publications, has announced that he's launching a spin off magazine called OK! Mum and Baby. The magazine will appear twice a year so fans of Katie Price and various footballers' wives can garner parenting insights and gaze at children whose babygro collections cost more than our cars.
I genuinely don't get it. I adore the children in my family, and I like seeing my friends' kids in both photos and real life, but I just don't get why anyone would want to look at photoshopped photos of some random child who belongs to (famous) strangers. And I don't see what parenting wisdom we can get from celebs who tend to have plenty of money and domestic help to look after their families. But clearly I'm in a minority, as the popularity of these pics and magazines shows.
So what do you think? Do you find it all a bit creepy, or are you mesmerized by celebrities' parenting styles? Do you find yourself gazing at their family pics? I must admit, Blue Ivy really is incredibly cute...
