Behind the Scenes

Going on T.V. wasn't too bad. The anticipation nearly made me crazy but when I was actually doing the interview I was surprised to feel pretty relaxed. Here's how it all went down.

As I had mentioned previously I was contacted weeks ago about doing this interview. I was told that it would be pre taped and shown during World Breastfeeding Week. Then last week when I still hadn't heard anything I called Noreen back. I asked her if I was still supposed to be doing the interview. She was shocked that I hadn't been contacted yet and made some calls. She later phoned me back saying that I would be getting a call from the host, Karen. Of course Karen called on Friday, when I was at work. I tried calling her back and left a message. I tried calling her Monday, she called back while we were at swimming lessons and left a message. She said it was too late to pre tape (crap!) but that if we could come at 12:30 pm that would be great. I tried calling her back again and left a message for her. I was starting to get nervous. I had questions. Important questions. Like, what were we going to do with my daughter when she decided to have a fit on camera. Would there be someone to pull her off stage with a cane when she started to act up?

Karen finally called me back this morning at like 10:00 am. Sheesh. We basically planned the interview over the phone. Ironically, I was breastfeeding at the time. I felt much better knowing what she would be asking me and what I was going to say. I asked if I could bring toys and snacks on with Miss A to try to amuse her. Of course she told me that would be fine. Then I told her that she may want to run off and in that case what would we do. I also explained that if I tried to make her sit on my lap if she didn't want to she'd have a melt down. She asked if A would mind going to someone else. I told her she would be fine. So she arranged to have someone standing by to take her when she was tired of being on camera. That made me feel better.

After we got off the phone I put on a video for Miss A and started to get ready. I opted for the straight hair because the wavy is always unpredictable. I did use plenty of bronzer but I thought it looked pretty natural. I used brown shadows on my eyes but applied it a little heavier than I would normally. (Does anyone care about this stuff?) I did wear black. Well, my pants had a silver pinstripe but I'm not sure if anyone would notice. Since watching the interview I am happy with my hair, makeup and clothing choices. I didn't find myself too horrifying to look at.

After I was done getting ready myself I was wandering aimlessly around the house. Not wanting to do anything which might mess up my hair, makeup or outfit. I began to get nervous and started to sweat. I didn't want to dress Miss A until it was pretty much time to go. Knowing her she would get her knees all filthy or decide to play in the cat's water or something. I dressed her in her birthday outfit. Not to be confused with her birthday suit. Although babies do look cute when they are naked. The outfit I am referring to is her beige jumper, brown turtle neck and her little brown boots. She looked much better than me, which goes without saying.

Finally it was time to leave. When we arrived at the station they were expecting us. We were escorted to “The Green Room” which, by the way wasn't green. I think it was tan. It was a small room and the first thing I noticed was a huge scary looking glass coffee table with sharp corners. Excellent. “Sorry, Mama D couldn't do the interview she's taking her baby to get stitches.” No, we didn't have any coffee table incidents but it did make me nervous. There was a television in the room which was tuned in to the show. I had brought plenty of toys for her to play with but she wasn't interested in any of them. She proceeded to pull the pamphlets and books off the table and on to the floor. Miss A tried to push buttons on the television and VCR. Then she discovered our hosts shoes. The girl loves shoes. (she comes by it honestly) Apparently she didn't like these ones because she tried to put them in the trash can. I was beginning to feel trapped in this “green room” with a destructive child.

Karen came in and introduced herself. She explained that we would be on after the sports at about 12:45. We would come through the door and walk behind the cameras (good tip) and wait until they went to commercial. Then they'd plug my microphone in and we'd be all set. Miss A had some snacks while we waited which was likely a mistake since that was my trick to keep her on my lap. In the interview she actually tossed some of her snacks in the air like confetti. It was good for comic relief.

I won't talk about the actual interview since Papa D is working on putting it on YouTube. Hopefully that will be up tomorrow. I will say the interview went pretty well though. Miss A lasted about a minute before being whisked away by a nice lady named Monica. She even quietly read her book on my lap before getting down to run off stage. Very endearing.

I didn't stutter but I did say “um” and “like” a couple of times. Like, you know it's hard to be on T.V. people! As I said when watching it myself later on I wasn't too disturbed. I watched it again later with Peter and he told me he thought it was a very good interview and that I did really well. Of course, he has to say that. He has to live with me. But I'll trust him anyway.