Among normal parents, there are those who have strict routines and stick to them and those who go with the flow. The same applies to celebrity moms; some have rigid structures and others are more relaxed parents. However, when celebrities choose to become parents, they can be assured that every move they make will be analyzed and criticized by media and fans alike.

There seems to be high praise for moms who have a structure that isn’t too rigid and also for moms who have an open system of communication with their offspring. However, moms who enforce strict eating regimens on their children or who are over-strict come under fire. Conversely, so do the moms who have no rules and let their children do what they want.

The middle ground of parenting is, of course, a hard balance to achieve. To set boundaries that make children feel secure while allowing them to have fun and express themselves is a holy grail that many parents struggle to achieve. At least we can content ourselves with the knowledge that celebrities struggle just as much as we do to parent successfully. The reassuring feedback from listening to celebrity views on parenting is the insistence that the basis of all parenting comes from enduring love.

20 Strict: Cate Blanchett

Cate has three sons and an adopted baby daughter. She has admitted that she is the stricter parent and that means she can be perceived as the ‘bad cop’ to her sons. She is of the school of parenting that does not agree to be best friends with her children but prefers to remain a figure of authority.

That is a belief that her husband shares and they aim to set boundaries for their children. She still listens to her children and ensures they feel loved and hopes the open communication they have will continue, according to Contact Music.

19 Relaxed: Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie has a reputation for being easy going with her children. Staff who have worked for the star report that the children run riot around the house and can do what they want. Angelina doesn’t like rules and doesn’t impose them on her children, it seems.

They have no set bedtime, can eat what they want when they want and don’t attend school. They travel with their mom on her trips, are allowed to play with whatever they want, and have free access to the Internet. Angelina’s relaxed attitude to parenting has led to comments that her house is ‘chaos’ from morning until night.

18 Strict: Madonna

Madonna is a mom to Lourdes and Rocco and adopted son David and daughter Mercy. She is a self-confessed strict mom and believes in restricting mobile phones for her children until they are sixteen. She follows a strict macrobiotic diet and according to NY Post, she encourages her children to follow a similar diet, with few treats.

Lourdes and Rocco apparently feel their mom is very controlling, and Lourdes was forced to pick up her clothes from the floor, otherwise, clothes were taken from her. Rocco prefers to live in England with his father and his new family, and despite Madonna demanding through the court that Rocco return to her, he seems determined to stay in the more relaxed environment that his dad provides.

17 Relaxed: Katie Holmes

Katie Holmes does her best to be mom and dad to Suri and surrounds her with love. She has always had a close bond with her daughter, and despite asking Suri to do chores around the house, she listens to her needs and feels it is important she is heard.

Mom and daughter hang out together, watching TV, attending functions and shopping, and Katie seems to be more of a friend figure to her daughter than a mom. She believes in giving Suri plenty to do to avoid her getting bored, but also to be respectful and polite. She achieves this in a very relaxed way and Suri seems to have benefitted enormously.

16 Strict: Sheryl Crow

Sheryl has two adopted sons and believes in being there for them and putting them above all else in her life. They accompany her on tour and Sheryl believes the disruption is worth it to be emotionally available to them whenever they need her.

She plans ahead when traveling, so that her sons see each city she visits, taking them to museums and parks, giving them a nap before eating together and putting them to bed before she goes on stage, according to The Guardian. At home in Nashville, she leads a normal life, taking her sons to Sunday school, swimming lessons and taking them shopping. However, she restricts video games and tells her sons ‘God put me in charge.’

15 Relaxed: Kim Kardashian

Kim has revealed that she is a fun and playful mom to her three children with singer Kanye West. She says she is not ‘crazy strict’ and while she tries to discourage the children from sleeping in her bed, she allows it occasionally.

She lets them eat candy even at a young age and lets her eldest daughter straighten her hair and wear what she wants from her designer wardrobe. Kim is parenting her way and fights back at any mommy shaming using social media.

14 Strict: Victoria Beckham

Victoria has been very firm with her sons and daughter. She believes in strict bedtimes and ensuring that all homework is completed on time. She uses a ‘punishment chair’ if they misbehave. She wants to ensure that her children are polite and respectful of other people, and this means instilling good manners and reprimanding bad behavior.

She admits that she is strict but says she makes sure that rules and fun are given out in equal measure. Their eldest child, Brooklyn, has described his parents as ‘strict’, according to Hello Magazine. While Victoria has ensured that her children are well behaved, she apparently cannot stop them from playing football in the house!

13 Relaxed: Britney Spears

Britney Spears might be a mom to two teenage boys, but she believes in getting involved with them and enjoying fun times. She has posted pictures of herself on the beach with her boys and painting with them in the garden.

They hang out at restaurants together and Britney seems a very relaxed mom, pranking with them and poking fun at each other. Britney may have had her public moments of embarrassing parenting, but it seems that today she puts them at the center of her world and relaxes with them, and showers them with love and attention.

12 Strict: Jessica Alba

Jessica has admitted that she is a stricter parent than her partner to their three children. She says she misbehaved as a child and feels that her disciplinarian side is as a result of the knowledge of her own misbehavior. She will give her children ‘time-out’ and let them think about their choices if they have done something wrong.

Jessica believes in boundaries in her parenting, believing that this gives children a better structure from which to thrive, according to IB Times. She finds bedtime the most challenging time of the day, especially as there is quite an age difference between her youngest two.

11 Relaxed: Alicia Silverstone

Alicia parents her son Bear as a single mom after her separation from his dad. She is a determined vegan and tries to encourage her son to eat healthily. She admits she breaks this rule if there is no vegan food available and lets him have regular food.

She admits that if she comes in late from a night out and puts on music, Bear will get up and dance with her. She just wants him to enjoy himself, so lets him join in. She doesn’t approve of cribs if the child wants to sleep in the parents’ bed and doesn’t believe in vaccinations.

10 Strict: Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth restricts herself to a strict diet and exercise regimen, as is well-known, and some of this regimen has rubbed off on her parenting style. She likes to be available for her children and cooks for them every day. Her son, Moses has some allergies that Gwyneth takes seriously and caters for with her cooking. When they were tiny, she gave them a gluten free, low carb diet. She has admitted that her children are sometimes hungry as a result!

She makes her children watch TV in French and Spanish to help them learn languages, as her mother did with her. Her controlling ways and strict parenting were said to be one of the things that contributed to the breakdown of her marriage to Chris Martin, according to The Richest.

9 Relaxed: Celine Dion

Celine is mom to three boys, by her relationship with Rene Angelil, who died in 2016. Celine revealed that she has no qualms about letting her sons share her bed. If she feels lonely and they want to sleep with her, she invites them into her bed. She watches Disney movies with her younger sons.

Her elder son is a teenager and Celine supports him all the way. When he plays hockey, she is on the sideline, cheering and dancing and supports his music career. While Celine might have been an indulgent mom, she believes she is the head of the family after Angelil’s sad passing.

8 Strict: Mariah Carey

Mariah is known as an eccentric in every area of her life and rumors of her extravagance are legendary. When it comes to motherhood, she co-parents her twins with ex-husband Nick Cannon. Mariah takes Monroe and Moroccan with her on tour and takes time out to have fun with them when she can, taking them to events and cooking lessons and joining in herself.

However, she had a rude awakening with the Internet. Her 7-year old son apparently ordered a $5,000 dog on Amazon without his parents’ knowledge! The singer canceled the order immediately and reminded her son that he has enough pets already!

7 Relaxed: Jada Pinkett Smith

Jada has three children with actor Will Smith, and it seems she is easy going with them. She describes her daughter Willow as easy to deal with and has ‘no limitations’ according to Coveteur. Jada doesn’t want her children to be sneaking around doing things that could put them in bad situations, so she likes to keep lines of communication open and let her children feel they can talk to her about anything.

Jada values freedom and love and likes to pass these messages onto her children, no expectations, or restraints. She has admitted she is not a strict mom, certainly not as strict as she has been in the past.

6 Strict: Kate Winslet

Kate has three children, so she has her hands full with juggling her parenting commitments and her work. She manages this by being strict as a mom and the three children evidently get along well and follow a routine that Kate manages rigidly.

They go to bed at set times and have to behave! Kate believes that a strict routine is the best way to keep her children under control, and it seems to work well for her. She believes in open discussions with her children and doesn’t avoid awkward questions. Her son Joe had a discussion about the possibility that he might be gay with Kate at age 7 and she didn’t bat an eyelid.

5 Relaxed: Shakira

Shakira’s partner is a major Barcelona football (soccer) player and the singer regularly takes her sons to watch daddy playing, sometimes dressed in mini football outfits. She is a very hands-on mom to Milan and Sasha and reveals that she is always searching the Internet to find tips on how to parent properly.

Shakira’s cornerstone of parenting, though is love; she wants to make sure her children feel loved every day. She says that the best tip she ever received was that children’s development in all areas depends on an abundance of love. When Shakira parents, it seems she has her priorities in the right place.

4 Strict: Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez has strict rules for her twins, Max and Emme, and by all accounts, they are polite and well behaved as a result. Jennifer believes in discipline but also in rewards for good behavior and it seems to have paid off. Her system involves following a rigid routine during the week and then being allowed treats during the weekend if they have adhered to them.

Jennifer reveals that her twins want to play on their iPads all the time, but she makes them focus on schoolwork during the week and then if they have behaved, they enjoy Sunday Funday, where they can play on the devices while Jennifer takes a nap!

3 Relaxed: Tina Fey

Comedienne Tina Fey has some wacky ideas relating to parenthood. She doesn’t like to say no and believes that she should go along with what her children are doing, even if that means eating some fake food in the playroom, she will go along with it. If her son wants to zoom around the room she will get herself up off the sofa and join in.

She says she likes to make statements that end the constant questioning but also to give her children choices to empower them. Her advice seems to be condensed into the suggestion that mistakes are just happy accidents, according to Simple Most.

2 Strict: Megan Fox

Megan has three young sons and is very strict with them. She believes that if she took her foot off the pedal with discipline, the home could descend into chaos, so she remains firm. Her rules may seem harsh to many, her sons cannot watch any TV or play any video games at all.

Megan works hard at her parenting and has said she had no idea how hard it would be, but perhaps she is making it harder for herself with the rigidity of her rules! The boys can watch the occasional film, but how long she can keep them away from TV and games remains to be seen.

1 Relaxed: Pam

Pamela believes in trusting her gut when it comes to parenting. She believes in ‘conscious’ parenting and wants her sons to be free-spirited and is a hands-on mom. She has rejected nannies in favor of her own parents, and admits her sons are ‘wild.’

She is trying to detach from her sons as they are now teenagers and she wants them to follow their dreams, but she admits it is hard. She has parented her own way and admits she has made mistakes, but fundamentally hopes her children know they are loved and that she has done her best for them reports Bamboo Family.

Sources: Dailymail, Imdb, Mother, People, Simple Most