Who doesn’t like relaxing and chatting with other parents enjoying a glass of wine? Well, I had the pleasure of doing just that chatting with ABC Family Mom’s Marlee Matlin and Constance Marie stars of “Switched at Birth” and Holly Marie Combs and Laura Leighton stars of “Pretty Little Liars.”This was really an informal conversation more than a traditional interview so the topics were so relatable in that these tv moms deal with the same issues all moms do from managing work-life balance, juggling schedules and typical parenting issues.
Marlee Matlin – “Switched at Birth”
I have been a fan of Marlee Matlin for years. From all her movie, television appearances and interviews, you get the sense that she is the most common sense, down-to-earth person, celebrity status or not. And she is.
And yes, her interpreter of 29 years was along side her. I have never been around a non-hearing person so this was an interesting experience for me. For them after 29 years, they obviously have a rhythm. You ask a question, he signs and she answers.
That all said, she was funny joking about the different personalities of her kids, and I mean funny, ha! ha!. Like all of us, she is dealing with her kids being riveted to their devices but she has a NO device policy at the dinner table. That sounds normal but it’s amazing how some families have some how lost that notion of saying “no.” And as you can imagine raising 4 kids, it’s a juggling act with schedules. Sound familiar. Just a very relaxed parenting style but structured. It was such a easy breezy chat that I was sorry to see it end.
Constance Marie – “Switched at Birth”
I know Constance Marie from the George Lopez show and did not realize she was on Switched at Birth. She is one of the actresses that has such an effortless style and presence. She breezed in her short shorts, looking fab even though she was late due to the LA traffic (no shock there.) But hey she was coming from her home in Santa Monica so you can’t feel too sorry for her, right.
I loved that she provided insight into her choice of roles as a Latina actress and being a role model for women of color. I will admit that I was not really aware of Switched at Birth before I went on this press trip, but it’s an interesting story line of two girls switched at birth and how the two families collide in dealing with their circumstances.
Constance talked about how she really wanted to be authentic in the role as her character plays the mother of a deaf daughter and learned to sign for the role. Like really learned to sign. Sadly, she had to stop because she injured her hand. This, of course, got the fans of the show extremely upset because she is a role model of parents of deaf kids. I was really impressed by her commitment to role and to her fans.
Laura Leighton and Holly Marie Combos – “Pretty Little Liars”
What a fun time chatting with Laura Leighton and Holly Marie Combs. It’s funny how us moms are fans of them from their non-mom roles. Who did not follow Holly Marie Combs on Charmed? That was one of my go to shows, just a fun, fun show and Laura Leighton as Sydney Andrews from that 90’s hit Melrose Place. Now they both play moms on Pretty Little Liars, a juggernaut teen show with a huge following especially on social media and the four girls who play the main characters. Jokingly, they were talking about how, now people come up to them and refer to them as “Aria’s mom” or “Hanna’s Mom.” That aside, Holly raved about family friendly, ABC family has been. She has three boys so that is important for her right now.
Switched at Birth
Tune in on Mondays at 8:00pm ET/PT on ABC Family. Official ABC Family “Switched at Birth” website and stay social on Facebook, Twitter,@ABCFsab #SwitchedatBirth Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr.
Pretty Little Liars
“Tune in on Tuesdays at 8:00pm ET/PT on ABC Family.” Official ABC Family “Pretty Little Liars” website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Disclosure: NYC Single Mom was provided a trip to the Los Angeles for a Disney, Marvel, DreamWorks ABC Family hosted press event. Opinions are 100% my own. #GuardiansOfTheGalaxyEvent, #100FootJourneyEvent, #ABCFamilyEvent.