Why I might block out my first Mother’s Day.

Mom’s first Mother’s Day… fabulous, fun, free…. ha. ha. ha. (Not.)

If someone told me that I’d spend my first Mother’s Day with Paula Abdul, I’d have flipped. Turns out they would’ve been right. This new mommy skipped the annual day of leisure and laziness… my plan was to mix a bit of work with a bit of fun, but it soon morphed into something a bit bigger than originally intended. This was supposed to be my Mother’s Day: Rise at 7am for a live, a Fab Mom segment on Los Angeles’ KTLA 5’s Weekend Morning News (with baby LadyP and Hubby in tow), a fancy-schmancy brunch, followed by a big family dinner that night (with sprinkles of gifts for me in between, I was hoping). Here’s what really went down:

4am: Rise and not-so-shine to get to KTLA by 5am per producer’s last minute change. No worries… until doctor Hubby’s pager started beeping and he had to run out to check on a patient at the hospital (leaving me to scramble packing a diaper bag, lifting a sleeping LadyP out of her crib an into her carseat to drop at my in-laws’ house… while also loading up all my products, flowers and clothes/makeup for my segment). Again, at 4am.

8amish: Segment went live. Totally fun and fabulous (despite the freezing cold weather). Totally pooped afterwards… but, my day was far from done. The day before, I’d agreed to cover Simon Cowell’s X-Factor auditions for a reporter friend of mine that was on vacation. (Since I work freelance, I RARELY say ‘no’ to any jobs that come up, since I never know when I’ll work again.) So, I hit home, changed my clothes, popped by my in-laws to snuggle with and feed LadyP, then off to the X-Factor!

11am: Caged up in a press pen like zoo animals waiting to interview Simon, UK darling Cheryl Cole, famed music producer L.A.Reid… and newly-announced judge Paula Abdul. Finished at 3:30pm. (Meanwhile, Hubby’s still working at hospital.) Hurried back to my in-laws and decided to forfeit the big family dinner for the good of my mental and physical health…. because, yes, my day was not yet over!

4pm: Home with LadyP. Confused. Tired. Naptime for Mommy.

7pmish: Hubby comes home with food… and a fun Mommy Day gift! (LOVE!) We eat, laugh, put LadyP to bed, then I take another nap on the couch so I can get up for my next job coming up… at midnight.

Did I mention that the show I was filling in for (for my reporter friend that was on vacation) is called Lorraine… and that it’s a live morning show airing in the UK? As in, Great Britain. As in, I must go into the LA satellite studio at 11:30pm to prepare for a live hit at 12:30am (Monday) USA time. So….

11:30pm: Drive to studio, live hit sometime in the middle of the night (which I think my mind already blocked out), then back home at 1:30am while praying all they way that I don’t run out of gas (literally). Quite a mother #$@%&! of a day. But I don’t regret it (yet). Mother’s Day is just a day. Handling and miraculously succeeding yesterday gave me a sense of pride, but also granted me great admiration for all the mommies who juggle chaotic junk like this every single day. You all got me through yesterday… minute by minute, hour by hour. Here’s to you… may we absorb strength from each other… and remind ourselves to never forget what we mommies can do on all levels (regardless of how our first Mother’s Day turned out… afterall, it’s just another day).