Audition Blues? Make a Baby!

I met this lady on a shoot who's way older than me.  She's the mother of a 3-year-old.  She said she "started very late."

Like most moms, she just loved talking about her kid, who is super cute from what I could tell from all the photos she pulled out of her wallet to share with me.  And according to her, he's also incredibly talented, extremely charming, and already showing signs of advanced intelligence.

I am always curious about how actors are able to raise kids.  It's a challenge taking care of myself, my husband, and our dog, let alone being responsible for taking care of a child too.  No doubt it takes some creativity and you can probably get by with a little help from some friends and family.  Of course it makes an enormous difference that this lady is married to a man who earns a living working with computers.  He gets a decent and steady paycheck.

But the one thing that stuck in my head that I found interesting, and a little sad, was during her monologue to me about the Joy of Birth and Motherhood, she said "It changes your entire focus.  All the stressing over auditions, it just doesn't matter to me anymore.  I highly recommend it."

While I don't have kids myself, I understand that it's a life altering event.  And it's common to hear from parents that they feel they have a purpose in life now that they have a kid.  I don't doubt that whatsoever.

But there's something sort of sad to me about the idea that this lady seemed to be so unhappy before and then found her happiness in having her child.  I mean, of course a child is going to bring happiness to a mother - unless of course you find yourself battling a case of post-partum depression.  Another new mom recently informed me that the highest rate of infant homicide is when they're 5-weeks-old.  (She hasn't been getting much sleep.)

What I mean is, it seemed sad to me that she seemed unable to find happiness with herself and her acting career independent of her child.

I do love kids - a few hours at a time.  And I sometimes do think of possibly producing some offspring in the future.  Maybe.  But I certainly will not be having any out of a need to fill a void or find a purpose for living.  I'm not gonna do that to my kid.  And I'm not gonna squeeze one out to make me have a better attitude about auditions.  I think I ought to be able to achieve that on my own.

And if I can't, there ain't nothin' that a new pair of Louboutins or a 12-pack of beer can't fix.

--Ming Ming

Comments

[susan]

Yay, beer and shoes!

[Rob Tode]

"Your entire life changes", and "You'll never be the same again"... I always thought that these were just some of those cliche things that people said once they had kids. Maybe to justify the whole thing somehow, or to explain away the fact that they weren't doing as much acting work. I also thought, "Yeah, I'm sure thats great for them, but it wont affect me that way...all I need is, etc, etc, blah, blah blah"---But I honestly never had a clue until my son was born. Thanks for reminding me, Ming-ming. And for the record, beer still does go a long way for me :)

[Randi Plevy]

I don't think she said she was miserable before, she said it changed her focus. Sort of like she probably doesn't use uninformed expressions like "squeeze one out" anymore.

[Ming Ming]

Whoa, sounds like somebody's hormones are outta whack. This blog is not for those lacking a sense of humor.
And that's so weird because I could have sworn there were only two of us when I spoke to this mother. I didn't see you there.
Cheer up, sweetheart. Life gets better if you let it ;)

[JimTodd]

Maybe Randi had an epidural and didn't have to squeeze one out and was henceforth insulted by the remark? Or maybe he had a C section.

I guess we must be sensitive to his recherche needs.