Did you know that Anderson Cooper has a new talk show gig? Did you also know that one of his first guests was SJP? For those of you who don’t know, that would be Sarah Jessica Parker of Sex and the City fame (and Square Pegs…yes, I know I’m dating myself).

It turns out that SJP has a new movie out called I Don’t Know How She Does It. It’s all about the struggle that SJP’s character goes through to balance her work and family responsibilities. Just in case you don’t already know, there is no such thing as work-life balance.

It’s hogwash. Baloney. Malarkey. Impossible. Simply because for you to get <insert air quotes here> balance, something has to come off your plate. You can’t have it all. You can try but you’ll fail more often than not.

“I found that really interesting…the competition or resentment between moms how who work in offices and moms who work inside the home.” ~Anderson Cooper

I’m off on the teeniest of tangents so let me circle back around.

I discovered while watching Anderson (who I think is awesome but awkward in this new talk show role) that there’s a war going on between moms who work in the home and those who work outside the home. One audience member (with a job at the NYFD) said that she thinks moms who stay home are a bit “clicky.” She went on to say that “sometimes it’s difficult for them to open up the ‘Mommy’s Club’ to people who are unlike themselves.”

Really? Are we back in high school here, ladies (and gentlemen reading this)?? Aren’t the struggles, though somewhat different, really the same? Not finding enough time in the day to check everything off the to do list, whether that’s laundry or finishing the all important report?

I don’t get it. Where’s he solidarity?! Or, does this mommy battle only exist for just a select few? And, what about you stay-at-home dads. Are you embroiled in this battle, too?

No matter what you’re juggling, you have to make choices. The choice to stay home with the kids. The choice to go back to work. The choice to try to have it all. Or, the choice to get help and support when you need it.

Ok, so I’ve made my way back to my soap box.

Really, instead of bickering about who has more work to do, maybe the fightin’ moms should take a gander at their lives and decide what’s important to them. What’s most important them. And only fill their plates with those things. I would venture to say that one of those things would be their sanity.

Now that we’ve all agreed that sanity is important, I have to ask:

Do your kids really have to be involved in every available extracurricular activity? …and go to schools on separate corners of the earth? Are you trying to be the parent who’s fulfilled and really well regarded at work and taking care of everything at home?

And, if you’re having such a hard time juggling work and life stuff, how do you find the time get high and mighty with another parent who’s made different choices than you did?

Seriously, is that a priority??

Yes, I hear you – <insert sarcastic tone and eye rolling> “But you’re not a mom, Deb. You don’t understand.”

Yeah, you got me there. I’m not a mom yet, but I would like to think that I’d spend more time figuring out what side my bread was buttered on (borrowed that saying from my mum), than being “clicky.”

What side of the fence are you on? Leave a comment and check out the trailer for SJP’s new movie.

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