Kate Hudson, Helen Hunt, Salma Hayek, Thandie Newton, and Sigourney Weaver on motherhood

With Mother’s Day fast approaching this coming Sunday, USA Today asked five celebrity mothers to describe how becoming a parent has changed them, as well as their most joyful motherhood moments.

Actress Salma Hayek; mom to Valentina Paloma, 7 months:

You learn so much. Listen to her. She’s in the background. Do you hearthat strange noise she makes (like a purr, or a rolled r)? It’s theFrench in her. It’shilarious. What I learned as a mother is that I have a strong love forthings. But the quality of your love gets jaded over the years as youget beat up.

What motherhood did to me, when she was born, the amountof love that started pouring out of me was completely pure. Anythinganyone ever did to me was erased by this energy. I relearned how tolove everything around me, too. My baby is the best thing that hashappened to me in my life. It’s the most amazing thing.

Helen Hunt; mom to Makena’Lei Gordon, turning 4 next week:

It gives me real motivation to try and be the person I want to be. Youtell them to be patient. But they’ll do what you do and not what tosay. If I want her to be relaxed, I have to be relaxed. Or at least tryas hard as I can to seem relaxed. If I want her to be patient, I haveto be patient. If I want her to be kind, I have to be kind. I have adeep wish for her to be happy and serene, and it makes me want to doeverything I can to be happy and serene.

Click below for quotes from Kate Hudson, Thandie Newton, and Sigourney Weaver.

Actress Thandie Newton; mom to Ripley, 7 ½ and Nico, 3:

I’ve learned the value of stripping it down to the basics: love,respect, compassion, stillness, to be interested, to be able to absorbthe moment. I remember the first time Ripley saw her shadow. My god. Itwas like shadows had just been invented. It was the most exquisitemoment. And it was just dish to me.

To actively attempt to be a goodmother is basically attempting to be a good person. I never look at mykids and feel that they’re mine. I am their caretaker. They own thejoint. It’s a privilege to be able to take care of them. With my firstdaughter, I remember waking up and thinking, ‘My god, I get to be hermum again today. Wow. It’s amazing.’ They just take my breath away.

AllI do is serve themselves back to themselves. My job is just to providea secure environment where they can just be themselves. It’s the cyclethat keeps going forward. You give to them, so they can give to theirkids. You have to be delighted by that.

Actress Kate Hudson; mom to Ryder Russell, 4:

I’m very impatient. I like to get things done. I move fast. Patiencehas been something he’s teaching me. Your children teach you so much.It’s a real mirror of yourself. You recognize the things you dodirectly affect your children. It hopefully allows you to be moreconscious of them and yourself and your actions.

When you have kids, itgoes so fast. I felt like I was pregnant last weekend, but he’s 4 andhe’s talking and he’s gathering his ideas and learning who he is. It’sso easy to step in and fix things and make everything right, but youhave to let him figure things out on his own.

That’s one of my favoritethings to do, to watch how they treat other kids and how they observeother people. Your life becomes about your children. I wake up everymorning and I hear his voice, and that’s my favorite thing in theworld. There’s nothing like it.

Actress Sigourney Weaver; mom to Charlotte, 18:

It’s a very humbling experience. Parenting has changed and evolved somuch since I was parented. Parents enjoy their kids much more. It’sjust fun. It’s a potentially blossoming time, because you have to beeverything. You have to be a great storyteller. You have to be veryorganized, very supportive and still. You can’t believe you have thiswithout a license, without any training. You learn as you go.

You’regetting to know your child, who is a complete individual at birth, andyou spend years getting to know who that person is and making sure thatperson is as supported as possible.

Source: USA Today; Images by Splash News and INFPhoto.com