Britney Spears is not an average person: She’s a superstar, a pop icon, and a woman who has enjoyed fame and success for the better part of 20 years. Except, there is an aspect of Spears’s life that makes her completely relatable, and that is motherhood. Spears is just like every other mom in many ways because she has experienced challenges and changes since becoming a mother, and has learned to be more accepting of who she is as a woman. She’s also completely dedicated to her two sons, Jayden and Sean Preston, and over the years she has offered a glimpse into her journey into motherhood, sharing her words of wisdom and posting photos of her children, accompanied by the most heartfelt messages.

Jessica Biel and Britney Spears don’t share immediate similarities (well, apart from the fact that they have both had serious relationships with Justin Timberlake), but both women put their family first. Like Spears, Biel is also raising a son, and she has experienced the chaos of motherhood (often resorting to eating in the shower) and learned to be selfless and appreciative. Below are 20 ways (and pictures) that show how both Britney Spears and Jessica Biel parent their children.

First up, Britney Spears...

20 Britney And Kevin Federline Have Actually Managed To Co-Parent

Britney Spears and Kevin Federline’s marriage didn’t last, and although they may not have split on the best of terms, in the years that followed, they put their differences aside for the wellbeing of their two sons. The former couple is now dedicated to co-parenting, and they’ve managed to make it work, despite the challenges.

Federline spoke about co-parenting in an interview with BravoTV’s Personal Space and discussed how he doesn’t always get to see his sons when he would like because of the schedule he has with their mom. “When you are co-parenting, you have to be willing to give up some of the things you would really like to do,” he said.

19 But Raising Her Sons Solo Means She Always Puts Them First

Kevin Federline is present in his sons’ lives, and it’s great that he and Britney Spears have been able to create a stable and amicable environment for their children. But the boys live with Spears, so some may say she is raising them as a solo mom. And raising them on her own has been difficult for Spears because it makes finding the balance between work and her personal life more complicated.

But she always puts her children first, which she admitted to People in an interview, and this is helped by her ability to plan. “I always do my best to plan my schedule around my family whenever possible," she said.

18 She Allows Her Sons The Freedom To Express Themselves (Including Getting Blue Hair)

Britney Spears is a pretty open-minded mother, and she allows her children to express their individuality with their appearances. We saw this when she posted a photo of her son, Sean Preston, with blue hair, and she celebrated the moment by writing, “My son has blue hair!! Wheeee!”

Perhaps this stems from how Spears is as a person because she has always remained true to herself, telling The Telegraph, “I’ve always followed my heart and pursued my dreams, and I imagine that people find that inspiring. I hope that is the effect I have on my fans and people in general…”

17 Britney Is A Mama Who Likes Being Silly And Having Fun With Her Kids

Britney Spears is raising two sons and when it comes to being a parent, she prefers not to take herself too seriously. Her social media pages are filled with photos of her pulling funny faces. She likes to be silly and have fun with her children, and the fact that she’s willing to share this side of her personality makes her all the more relatable (her posts are real, not staged by a professional photographer).

When she takes a photo with one of her sons, she wants the memory to be fun, and when she takes time off from work, she wants to be “getting silly” with her kids.

16 She Calls Her Sons Her ‘Masterpieces,’ And They’ve Changed Her Life

To an outsider, Britney Spears has it all; she’s got fame, success, and her net worth is in the millions. But despite the recognition she has got for her singing, she feels her sons are her true masterpieces.

Becoming a mother changed Spears life, and she penned an emotional letter to them as part of Time’s Letters From Mom series. In it, she explained the ways her children have brought joy to her, and they have done so since they were born. “You are my masterpieces. From the day I saw the most precious eyes, I believed in miracles to the core,” she wrote.

15 Becoming A Mother Has Made Her More Accepting Of Herself...

When Britney Spears performs on stage, she exudes confidence. She’s a fantastic performer, and many people would think she has always embraced who she is, but that’s not necessarily the case. In an interview with Marie Claire UK (via Romper), Spears spoke about how having her sons, Jayden and Sean Preston, changed the way she feels about herself.

“Becoming a mother and being with my boys has made me so much more accepting of myself,” she explained. “I’m their mom, whatever. That has been a really big thing for me over these last few years.” Her comments seem to suggest that she now has a newfound confidence in her abilities.

14  ...But She Still Questions Whether She’s Doing It All Right

Raising children may get easier as they get older, or less challenging after the first child because you start to feel like a more seasoned pro, but for most moms, there is always the lingering questions in the back of their mind about whether they are making the right decisions, or handling a situation in the best way possible.

This is something that Britney Spears can relate to, and in an honest interview (via Huffington Post), she addressed this, saying: “As a mom, you have all these situations you go through, and you’re like, ‘What is going on? Is this normal? Is this a phase? Or what is this?’ and then you feel silly for asking questions because you think, I’m a mom, I’m supposed to know these things, but you don’t."

13 They Have A Ritual Where They Visit A Tree Every Year

Britney Spears appears to spend a lot of time with her children, and something fans of hers may not have known is that they have a special tree they like to visit. Spears took to social media to post a photo of herself and her kids standing in front of an old tree, and in the caption of the post, she informed fans that every year she comes back to this tree, adding, “It’s beautiful!”

Although Spears offered no more information on the tree and where it is located, her photos show how she spends quality time with her children, and she wants to share with them the place that is special to her.

12 She Loves Reading To Her Boys —Which Is A Great Way To Spend Time Together

Britney Spears is a fantastic performer, but when she’s not on stage or attending red carpet events, she likes being at home. In an interview with The TJ Show (via E! News), she explained that she really enjoys performing and doing shows because it’s a way to express herself. But she also loves being at home. “I’m such a cozy person, I love being in my house,” she said.

It also seems that when she is at home, she enjoys reading to her children, and we know this because she posted a photo of herself and her sons in bed reading a book. Jax Mom Blog notes that reading aloud to children is incredibly important because it can help children develop a love of learning, as well as improve language development and reading skills.

11 She Always Encourages Her Sons, And She Is So Proud Of Them

To many people, Britney Spears is a great performer, but also an inspiration, and this is something she realizes. According to BabyGaga, she’s said this: “I would like to be called an inspiration to people, not a role model — because I make mistakes like everybody else. When I'm offstage, I'm just like everybody else.”

And when she’s offstage she really does appear to be very similar to everyone else, especially when it comes to how she feels about her children; She could not be more proud of them, we know this because she celebrates their achievements on social media, including when they win school awards.

And then there's Jessica Biel...

10 She Praises Her Husband For The Way He Parents

Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake are parents to just one son, Silas Randall, and they welcomed him into the world in 2015. The couple is both dedicated to raising him and Biel feels that she could not do the whole parenting thing without Timberlake. In fact, Biel praised him for his skills as a parent and used Father’s Day as an opportunity to share with the world what an incredible father Timberlake really is.

She thanked her husband for loving their son, and explained how she watches him with awe every day, “as he guides and teaches, encourages and supports.”

9 They Take Halloween Very Seriously (And Win At Their Costumes Every Year)

In the Timberlake household, they take dressing up and Halloween very seriously. They also find it important to spend time together as a family, which is why these events are probably so special to them.

Jessica Biel likes to post photos of their Halloween costumes every year, and they always seem to dress up as a family, with 2018 being their most memorable year yet, and they transformed into a LEGO family of superheroes. Other family costumes over the years have included characters from Toy Story (Biel dressed as Jessie, Timberlake as Buzz, and their son as Woody), and they've been inspired by Trolls.

8 Her Professional Life May Have Slowed Down Because Of Mom Guilt

Fans may not see Jessica Biel in as many films and TV series as was in before becoming a mother, and her work does seem to have slowed down slightly as she chooses to focus on motherhood. That’s not to say she hasn’t worked at all, but she is still trying to find a balance, and working mom guilt is not making it any easier.

"Mom guilt is a real thing," Biel told Redbook. "I don’t know if I’m very good at it yet. I feel a lot of guilt when I’m gone. You feel like you’re missing out and maybe you shouldn’t be there. I struggle with it a lot." That said, she still insisted that working was important to her, and she wanted her son to see how she was fulfilled by work.

7 Having A Child Made Her Realize That She Wasn’t As Selfless As She Thought

Jessica Biel always thought she was a selfless person, but when she became a mom she was confronted with the reality that she wasn’t quite as unselfish with her time as she thought. Motherhood has taught Biel many things, but this was one of the biggest lessons, and she decided to discuss it in an interview with Marie Claire.

"You think you're a selfless person, and then you realize you're not,” she said. “These little people come around, and they require so much, and your schedule is really not your own, nor is it important anymore, and it's very clear that it's your life now revolving around this dude.”

6 Jessica Lets Her Son Grow His Hair As Long As He Wants (But Has Received Backlash For It)

There is a belief among some people that a child should have short hair if they are a boy, and longer if it’s a girl. Jessica Biel is not one of these people, and she feels that her son can express his personality and individuality by having the hairstyle that he wants. Her decision to not cut Silas’s hair, and instead let it grow past his shoulders, is one that shows Biel is an open-minded parent, but it’s also something that has earned her criticism.

According to Business Insider, a photo of Biel’s son with long hair resulted in a lot of unwanted attention from individuals moaning about the length of his locks.

5 She Admits Being A Mom Can Get Hectic (She Even Eats In The Shower)

Being a mom can be pretty chaotic, and children can be so demanding that you learn to multitask on a completely different level. Seriously, those 30-minute baths you used to enjoy have now turned into 5-minute showers, and the 20 minutes it took to find an outfit doesn’t happen anymore because it’s now the first clean item you come across that you’ll be wearing! Jessica Biel is all too familiar with this, and she even eats in the shower — seriously, she posted about it.

Biel has also learned not to waste food, and when her son doesn’t finish a meal, she tucks in. “You make food, they eat what they eat, and you literally — as they are running off trying to grab something — you are shoveling the last few bites off of their plate,” she told People, adding, “And that is your lunch ... that is your lunch.”

4 Becoming A Mom Has Made Her Appreciate Her Own Mama Even More

When Jessica Biel became a mom, she started to appreciate her own mother all the more because now she could relate to everything she went through when she raised her. On Mother’s Day in 2018, Biel wanted to pay tribute to her mom, and also let the world know just how much she loves her.

“It took me almost thirty years to truly understand everything you sacrificed for me,” she wrote. “I am in awe of your wisdom and grace, and I hope I can emulate those ideals with my own child...I love you so much, Mom.”

3 She Didn’t Dream Of Motherhood But Loves It Now

There are some women who dream about becoming a mom. They picture how their life will turn out, decide how many children they will have, and have the names they want to call their little ones neatly written out in a diary (and they may not tell you if you ask because it’s not worth risking someone else taking that name for their kids). Other women feel differently, and it’s not until they become a mother, that they realize they wanted it all along.

Jessica Biel fits into the latter category. “Honestly, I didn’t grow up dreaming about having kids and having a family," she said in a Reddit Q&A session. “I was so focused on my [work] and so focused on my selfish existence...but I think meeting my husband inspired me.”

2 She Has A Different Approach To Parenting Than Her Own Mother

Jessica Biel is close to her own mother, Kimberly Biel (perhaps even closer now that they have motherhood in common because she feels she can relate to her on another level). Biel has spoken about how she is more appreciative of her own mom since having Silas, but she has also discussed the differences in their approach to parenting, and it sounds like her mom was a lot more strict, at least, when it came to food requirements.

“My mom was [a hippie],” she told Elle. “We weren't allowed sugar cereal. We weren't allowed processed foods - except Van de Kamp's fish sticks. We never locked the front door.”

1 Jessica Biel Needs Help Sometimes, And She Leans On Her Son's Granny

Jessica Biel is a hands-on mom, but that’s not to say that she doesn’t have help. And when she needs a little extra help, she leans on her mother. According to AOL, Biel and Justin Timberlake's parenting hack is their son's grandma.

"The hack we use now [is] Grandma," Biel said of the help she gets. And it’s a good thing that she does have help when she needs it because Biel has also told Entertainment Tonight that she’s exhausted when she comes home from work, yet her son still needs her and wants to play when she gets home.

Sources: BravoTV, People, Time, Romper, Huffington Post, The Telegraph, E! News, Jax Mom Blog, BabyGaga, Marie Claire, Business Insider, People, Reddit, Elle, Redbook, AOL, Entertainment Tonight.