| Tales from the Mommy Track is a weekly column about the daily life of a part-time working mom. Risa Green is a critically acclaimed author who lives in Los Angeles. Her previous adult novels, Notes from the Underbelly and Tales from the Crib were made into a television series. Her latest novel, The Secret Society of the Pink Crystal Ball, is a Young Adult book that will be released in September, 2010. |  |
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PRO CON PRO
In case you didn’t know, ABC is making a TV show based on my book, Notes from the Underbelly, and although the show doesn’t premiere until November, I’ve started doing a bit of PR for it already. Just yesterday, in fact, I did an interview for a new website called Savvymiss.com, which is officially geared towards women 18-35, but which, I think, is actually intended to appeal to the mid-twenties, fresh out of grad school, newly married/engaged/single-and-starting-to-panic female demographic.
The Worst Mother in the World
Allow me to introduce myself: I'm The Worst Mother in the World.
Now, before you start arguing that I am certainly not the worst mother in the world, that surely, other women with uncontrollable tempers and penchants for certain class A narcotics are much more likely to hold that title than I, let me explain that I am not really talking about the World, as in, the seven seas and seven continents, but that I am talking about my world, as in, of the four people living in my house, I am the mother, and therefore the only one capable of being the worst at it.
My Son is a Burgeoning Drag Queen.
Vacation was heaven – HEAVEN – but now it’s over, and I’m back. Within an hour of being home, my vacation high devolved into Feels Like I Never Left, and now, after a single day, it’s become Feels Like It Never Even Happened, complete with a massive, blow out fight between me and my husband earlier this afternoon in the parking lot of the Natural History Museum. It’s as if Mexico, with its balmy nights and breezy ocean views, was something I dreamed, or possibly experienced in a prior life when I was a Mayan queen and had a battalion of servants to cater to my every whim.
The Compromise
I threw a massive tantrum last week about how I CAN NOT WORK FROM HOME ANY MORE, and as a result my husband and I have struck a deal that, I feel, is legendary enough to deserve its own name, like the way the Missouri Compromise of 1820 did. I’m calling it the They’re Half Yours, Too Compromise of 2007. At times, it was a tense negotiation. I started out asking for three days a week, working from an empty cubicle in my husband’s office.
Paying for the Pill
If Planned Parenthood continues to come under attack from the right and loses it’s funding, then it’s not just an organization that’s at risk. The issue at stake is about access to birth control - and the fundamental right of women to be able to make their own decisions about whether and when to get pregnant. more
Once Upon A Time
Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a beautiful princess who lived in a magnificent castle high upon a hill. Ever since she was a little girl, the princess had dreamed of becoming a rocket scientist in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. At night, after everyone else in the castle had gone to bed, her little mouse friends would bring her physics books and scale drawings of unmanned spacecraft that they had stolen from NASA, along with some tea and cookies for her to eat.
Kindergarten Blues.
It’s a big weekend for me, coming up. There’s Mother’s Day, of course. And I should hear this weekend about whether the show is being picked up for a second season. But the biggest thing is that my daughter – my oldest – is turning five. Five. As in, going to kindergarten, learning to read, tying her own shoes, five. I’m not having a hard time with it at all. I mean, unless you consider sitting next to her bed at night while she sleeps and sobbing my eyes out to be a hard time. Okay, so maybe I’m having a hard time.
Like, Wow
Suddenly, here we are. All those years of sleep deprivation and hard work have finally paid off, and our kids are capable and confident. But it's a bittersweet realization because it also means our babies are growing up. more
Notes from the Underbelly: And So It Airs
A funny thing happens to you when you write a novel: your life doesn’t change one single bit. I thought it would – when I first sold Notes From the Underbelly, I thought that there would be book signings, and multi-city book tours. I imagined seeing my book on the front table of every Borders and Barnes and Noble. I pictured myself strolling the beach and seeing the lavender cover staring back at me from dozens of beach chairs. I even thought that maybe someone might recognize my name when I made a reservation, or when I signed a credit card receipt.
What In The World Is A Mondegreen?
I learned a new word today, which, I realize, doesn’t sound that exciting, as you would think that, as a writer, I would probably learn new words all the time, but this one in particular is kind of a big deal to me. You see, I’ve been searching for this word for years. I knew it had to exist, I just didn’t know what it was called, and while it’s quite easy to flip open a dictionary and look up the meaning of a word you’ve heard but don’t quite know how to use, it’s actually quite a challenge to look up a word when all you know is the definition of it.
