Andy Cohen is grateful for his decades-long friendship with veteran mom Sarah Jessica Parker.
“I was living next door to Sarah Jessica this summer, and I was really in the weeds,” Cohen told TODAY Parents. The Bravo mogul explained that his 3-year-old son, Ben, had “entered a new stage of tantrum-hood." He was also climbing out of his toddler bed at the crack of dawn.
Adding to the chaos: Cohen, 54, was adjusting to life as a father of two. His daughter, Lucy, who is now 6 months old, was born via surrogate in April.
“(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.
Same goes for Kelly Ripa. The "LIVE with Kelly and Ryan" co-host is another important member of Cohen's parenting village.
Ripa, like Parker, has been through it all, from potty training to college applications. She and Mark Consuelos, 51, are parents of Michael, 25, Lola, 21, Joaquin, 19, while Parker, 57, and Matthew Broderick, 60, share James, 20, and 13-year-old twins Marion and Tabitha.
Cohen said Ripa, 52, and the "Sex and the City" actor found him a baby nurse and a nanny, and praised the two women for having the answers to pretty much any kid-related conundrum.
“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."
Cohen said his younger sister, Emily Rosenfeld, is equally helpful. He expressed gratitude for how parenthood has brought him and Emily closer together.
“She lives in St. Louis. She’s a mother of two,” Cohen said. “I’m in the TV world. You know, a lot of things that I have going on in my life are not things she could inform my decisions on.”
“But she’s been a really great sounding board for me about parenting,” he continued. “And these are conversations that we weren’t having when she was going through it because I couldn’t relate whatsoever.”
"I really value her opinion. She's a smart, steady voice," he added.
Cohen opened up to TODAY while promoting ByHeart’s annualFeed Fest, a free, virtual event filled with master classes and panels about early parenthood. Cohen is hosting the summit, which kicks off on Nov. 11 at 10 a.m. EST.
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Rachel Paula Abrahamson is a lifestyle reporter who writes for the parenting, health and shop verticals. Her bylines have appeared in The New York Times, Good Housekeeping, Redbook, and elsewhere. Rachel lives in the Boston area with her husband and their two daughters. Follow her on Instagram.
