I’ve filmed 18 episodes of The Mommy Show and through this process I have realized two very important things about myself.
1) I should never wear stripes on camera. (I swear that sweater is flattering in person.)
2) I am way less intimidated by my guests’ celebrity status than I am when they display superior mom skills.
Case in point, Paulina Porizkova is excellent with kids. So excellent that when we started the art and crafts segment, she used the little pipe cleaner animals we were making to put on a little show for Mazzy.
For some reason, I couldn’t figure out how to get myself involved and I totally shut down. I stopped asking questions. I couldn’t make the stupid animal. It doesn’t seem so weird when it’s all edited together but at the time, I really began questioning myself.
After arts and crafts, the producer asked what happened to me. I said, “I couldn’t reach the materials”. And he said, “So why didn’t you ask for someone to move them closer to you?” And I was like, “I don’t know. I guess I was too busy thinking I’m a terrible mom who doesn’t know how to entertain her own children!”
I love filming The Mommy Show but I’m also very much aware that both my interview skills and my parenting skills are on display. Neither of which, to be honest, I am that confident about. I don’t think anyone expects me to be a great interviewer, but the parenting part is harder to swallow. Although, it’s interesting to see that on film I always seem better at my job (the mom job) than I feel in my head at the time.
Maybe that’s a nice takeaway for every mom with less confidence in their parenting skills to think about.
Besides the internal parenting crisis, Paulina was actually one of my favorite guests. First of all, she looks fucking fabulous. For a woman of any age.
Secondly, there is so much about her I didn’t know.
In the video, she talks about a children’s book she wrote a long time ago called “Ralphie the Roach” and an upcoming book involving a rat. What you don’t see is the conversation we had afterward where she talks about her pet rat. I wish I could remember the rat’s name.
Apparently, Paulina and Ric Ocasek (her husband and lead singer from The Cars) used to walk around the East Village of Manhattan with the rodent sitting on their shoulders. Can you imagine? It’s so East Village in the 80s, it’s fantastic. Now the neighborhood is crawling with NYU students and people eating frozen yogurt.
To solidify Paulina’s rockstar status, she arrived on a scooter with her assistant riding on the back. The first thing she did in my apartment was take off her helmet.
Also in the episode, Paulina and I played a new game called “Supermodel or Toddler?” in which I say real quotes and Paulina has to guess whether they were said by one of her friends or one of my children.
It’s way harder than you would think.
Check it out.
Love the pipe cleaner animals. I will have to make those at some point!
I know this feeling in my bones.
Whenever someone else would get down on the floor with my kids (or lean in for a cute high-five or coax them into putting on their socks by doing a little puppet show) I’d think, “Crap. I suck at this.”
Of course I didn’t COMPLETELY suck. Maybe sometimes. But surely not always.
Still. It’s easy to compare ourselves to someone who’s popping into the scene. Someone new and fresh and exciting to our children. We’re just mom. With a lowercase m.
But the truth is – day in, day out – our kids can’t live without us.
We. Are. MOM.
Yes, to everything you said.
Yes, to everything you said.
i’m with you, too. I needed that, today was a bad day. Thank you for making me feel better about being a mom.
i’m with you, too. I needed that, today was a bad day. Thank you for making me feel better about being a mom.
wait, wine is made from grapes ?
😉
How well put! How vulnerable we are because of our adoration of our “young”. Because I love my daughter “to the stars and back” and I sincerely believe she’s the most beautifull en perfect creature that ever walked the face of the earth (really!!) I want to be that absolute nr 1 for her too, you know. And lord do I put a lot of energy to stay in that position….It s nescessary for a healthy balance in our relatioship :). I am making a little fun but that is the real deal here…I think. “i love you most baby”. ” I love you even more mama”….
Thank-you for always being honest about your struggles. I think sometimes when someone new swoops in, it’s something “fresh and exciting” to our kids. I’ve had that happen where a friend of mine does things like that with my daughter and I automatically begin to feel like the “third-wheel”. It’s almost like a, “wait, what just happened?” kind of thing. Then I start to question, “Do I do those kinds of things enough, or am I never being ‘fun’?”
Basically…you’re not alone. None of us are perfect, and like you said when you look back you always see things you don’t necessarily see in the day-to-day. Much like your morning series. The beauty is always there, whether we see it or not…and 9/10 it’s better than we ever imagined.
Your honesty is something that will ALWAYS bring me back to your blog. I so appreciate that as a parent, when days come and I just go to bed at the end and think “Well…I could have done that a LOT better.” Thank you, thank you. LOVE Mommyshorts!
ANY mom in a room with a supermodel mom who is beautiful, funny, clever, *and* a seemingly personable, accessible, modern yet down to earth parenting style would feel more than a little bit shut down. Only thing I see lacking in you darling is that you don’t see you are ALSO all of those things, too.