Son comes first for Bullock

A few months back, I waxed lyrical in an article about why Sandra Bullock is universally adored. If any actress should be called a role model, then she truly deserves the crown.

She may be an Oscar winner and possibly the most bankable actress in Hollywood, but Bullock is first and foremost a mother.

Like all proud mummies, she never fails to talk about her three-year-old adopted son Louis. That's such a motherly thing to do.

I'm pretty much guilty of it too - never shutting up about the little man in my life.

I'm sure all mothers have their own brag books on their precious babies.

Meanwhile, Bullock is garnering Oscar buzz again for her awesome performance in Gravity, which opens here tomorrow, In the space drama helmed by Alfonso Cuaron, she plays grieving Nasa medical engineer Ryan Stone, who lost her young daughter to a tragic playground accident.

Her first mission to space looks set to become her last when her shuttle gets hit by a stray satellite, leaving Dr Stone tethered to skilled astronaut Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), as she spirals out into the blackness of space.

Bullock was initially reluctant to take on the role - it was physically challenging and it would be a long shoot in London, which meant precious time away from Louis as Bullock is based in Austin, Texas.

Thankfully, Cuaron and crew made it possible for Louis to be on set and even created a mini- Disneyland to keep him occupied.

In a recent interview with Vogue magazine, the 49-year-old actress and single mum candidly admitted that her life is planned around Louis and that she'll "pack up and move to Alaska" at the first sign that her career is "affecting him negatively".

Would I be able to do that? Of course, Bullock doesn't need to worry about her bank balance.

But financial issues aside, I'm not sure if I can just "pack up" and become a full-time mother.

I think my sanity will be the first to go if I'm with my boy 24/7.

But I can take heart that he, like Louis probably does of his mum, thinks the world of me - one who's always there to pick him up from school, and always around to say a prayer and tuck him into bed every night.

So to Bullock and all single and stay-home mums, hats off to you.

Get The New Paper for more stories.