When my kids were preschoolers and I was exhausted, many mornings were spent watching TV. That’s when I first saw Patty Sullivan, the pixieish host of the preschool-targeted, commercialfree Kids’ CBC.
Her character, Patty Talkalotagustachuck was our family favourite. She has a daughter, Veronica, who is almost three now, and Sullivan has been back at work for two and a half years as a producer, writer and host.
Part of her success as a performer is her ability to focus on the preparation.
She laughs about how that skill served her well as a new mom, too.
“I was stressed out about everything ‘baby,’” she says, “so I researched everything online, signing up for every website newsletter, joining every mommy group.
I was overprepared. But I’m still a crazy worrywart, which I never was before kids.”
She devoured baby books like How to Have a Baby and Still Live in the Real World: A Totally Candid Guide to the Whole Deal, by Jane Symons and Gila Leiter.
“I laughed at all their jokes while it still hit on all the important parts of pregnancy and beyond,” she says.
I speculated that being a part of the Kids’ CBC TV show for years must have made the transition to motherhood a little easier for her. “Wrong!” she almost shouts.
“Just because I’m the host of a children’s show, doesn’t mean I have any better idea of what to do with parenting kids. I’m also at a loss and just as scared.”
Besides that, the fame thing doesn’t really play at home. I ask Sullivan if she’s ever scored extra points with her daughter by being a preschool celebrity.
“My daughter has no idea I’m famous even though she watches me on television,” she says. “One day, when she’s older, she’s going to realize that not everyone’s parents have their own show.”
Occasionally Veronica will get a first-hand glimpse of Mom as a performer, often at dinnertime. In order to persuade her little picky eater to partake of various dinner offerings, Sullivan will take advantage of her range of cartoon voices. “Yesterday I got Veronica to eat her carrots using a silly voice and pretending the carrots were asking her to put them into her tummy. It worked! But usually I’m all business with her.”
As much as Sullivan adores creating and hosting TV segments, she focuses a lot less on her career these days and more on her daughter.
At the same time, when she wants a job, she still goes out and gets it.
Just last December she sparkled on stage playing the godmother in Ross Petty’s hilarious production of Cinderella.
My kids were transfixed each time she came onstage. Despite her fame, she wasn’t just offered the role. She was a huge fan of Petty’s plays and started an e-mail campaign to get his attention, land an audition and win the role.
As much as her daughter loved the performance, she wasn’t thrilled her mom was rehearsing long hours and virtually disappearing during the show’s run. To deal with her bouts of guilt, Sullivan talks about it with her husband, Mike Kinney, who is also a performer and producer.
“I even have guilt when I go out with my friends for the night, but I do it because I know I have to do it for me. Things are never going to be the way you want them to be.
“So you might as well laugh.”
Post City Magazines’ parenting columnist, Erica Ehm is the voice of yummy mummies with her playful website yummymummyclub.ca. After all, mommies need to play, too.