Andy Cohen Is Leaning On Sarah Jessica Parker For Her Sage Parenting Advice
The Bravo personality talked about how SJP helped him during a particularly trying toddler moment.
Everyone has that fellow go-to parent who has older kids and has been through all that comes with the terrible twos. For Andy Cohen, those parents are Sarah Jessica Parker and Kelly Ripa. The Bravo host opened up about how the Sex and the City alum helped him through a particularly trying moment this summer when his 3-year-old son Ben was having some sleeping issues.
“I was living next door to Sarah Jessica this summer, and I was really in the weeds,” Cohen explained to TODAY Parents. He revealed that Ben had “entered a new stage of tantrum-hood,” something with which Cohen is already familiar.
He’s shared multiple meltdowns on social media, and normally, he has a way to calm down his kids. But as Cohen is adjusting to being a father of two after welcoming his daughter Lucy, 6 months, via surrogate in April, it was starting to feel like a lot.
“[Sarah Jessica] was just a good outlet for me for me to say, 'I'm going through this. Is it normal? What do I do?'" Cohen said.
He explained that Ripa also is a go-to person when he is feeling less-than-sane as a parent. “Kelly and Sarah Jessica have been really great because I can text them at any time, and be like, ‘Ben is constipated,’” he revealed. “Then I know immediately what to run out and get."
As far as celebrity parents go, Parker and Ripa seem like solid moms to lean on. Parker shares son James Wilkie, 19, and twin daughters Tabitha Hodge and Marion Loretta, 12, with Matthew Broderick. Ripa shares Michael, 25, Lola, 21, and Joaquin, 19, with husband Mark Consuelos. Both moms have seen (and lived to tell the tales) of toddler meltdowns and preteen mood swings.
Of course, Cohen leans on family as well. He expressed his gratitude for his younger sister, Emily Rosenfield, who also helps Cohen navigate single fatherhood. He even credits fatherhood with bringing him closer to his sister.
“She’s been a really great sounding board for me about parenting,” he said. “And these are conversations that we weren’t having when she was going through it because I couldn’t relate whatsoever,” he added, noting that she leads a much different life than him in St. Louis.
"I really value her opinion. She's a smart, steady voice," he added. It doesn’t matter if you are a single parent or raising a family with a partner — having fellow parents as friends (and ultimately sage givers of parenting advice) is critical to raising a child. It truly takes a village, y’all.
