when the going gets tough, the tough make coffee....

So ABC World News Tonight called at 9 a.m. today saying they wanted to send a camera crew over -- the same afternoon -- to film for a story on The Mommy Brain (supposedly scheduled for this Thursday at 6:30.) I stared at my living room, which looked like Baghdad, and then at myself, in sweat pants and having a Bad Hair Month. What to do first? Buy clothes? Borrow a house? I called my friend Elizabeth and started to complain about having to clean out the rat cage, again. "You don't want to go there in this conversation," she said. Then I called my mom, who told me not to worry. I hope she was right about that last part. I worry in particular that on TV or in a quick interview, nuance and complexity gets shoved aside. Take my frantically cleaning my house. It's not my reality: having a clean home is fairly low on my list of priorities, as there are so many more important things to do. And the fuschia shirt is definitely more dressed up than I usually get to pick my kids up from school. But I made a couple concessions to TV today because while I certainly believe we shouldn't get obsessive about housework or clothes, I don't want anyone to get distracted by a torn t-shirt or a trashed living room. Okay, and I'm also vain.