From One Mama To Another: 20 Questions For Gina Randall

Several years after leaving New York City, my public relations career, my Brooklyn apartment, and Great Jones Cafe in the East Village (blackened catfish and sautéed kale…nom nom), I am still gratefully connected to many of the people and places that were once a part of my Big Apple (and pre-motherhood) life.

Introducing Gina Randall, an old (but not old) friend and work colleague, a mom whose perfect day starts and ends the same as mine, a talented and funny writer, and author of “Last in First,” a new blog with the best tag line ever:

“My last kid is in first grade. Oh yeah.”

Here she is… (in her own words):

Name: Gina Randall

Age: 43

Hometown:  Madison, NJ

About my kids:  Grace, 11; Greg, 8; Gavin, 6

About me: I have been raising my three kids and keeping my house from blowing up exclusively since my second was born in 2006. My last kid is in the first grade, which marks the first time in 11 years I will SIT DOWN and TAKE A BREATH, and to celebrate I started a blog called lastinfirst.com. I have a love/hate relationship with writing, so we’ll see how it goes. I prefer to read non-fiction journalistic-type books (Michael Lewis is my favorite author), I need to catch up on my scrapbooks, and I watch the Daily Show religiously every night.

This morning, I woke up at… 7:18am.

The last book I read (and actually finished) was… “The Fault in Our Stars.”

In one word, pregnancy is… awful

As a Mama, I’m really good at… finding the humor.

As a Mama, I wish I were better at… not being a mess.

Proudest parenting achievement: Giving birth without an epidural to a 9lb 3oz baby.

Biggest parenting challenge: Getting my kids to eat healthy food.

Scariest parenting moment: When I lost my 7 and 4 year olds in a corn maze. For a good 20-30 minutes. At dusk. I thought we were going to need a helicopter.

Before having children, I wish I had… purchased a good pair of noise-canceling headphones.

My #1 parenting rule is… be nice.

The most surprising thing about being a Mama is… how I have no control. Like, none at all.

My best piece of advice for a soon-to-be Mama is… buy a 10 lb bag of potatoes and carry it around with you 24/7 for three weeks while someone blows an air horn in your face every 15 minutes and that’s kind of what it feels like to have a baby.

The one thing I’d like NOT to pass on to my kids is… my adult-onset ADD.

A perfect day starts with… coffee.

A perfect day ends with… wine.

I’m a Guilty Mama when… anyone mentions the word ginger, which was the name of the dog we had but returned after six weeks in 2012.

I’m a Happy Mama when… my last kid enters the first grade.  See my blog: www.lastinfirst.com.

I’m a Proud Mama when… I watch my boys play sports and my daughter perform on stage.

Right now, I’m an… Overwhelmed Mama attempting to cope with the chaos of motherhood.

Motherhood is… “a pride swallowing siege I will never fully tell you about” (thank you Jerry Maguire).

You can follow Gina on Twitter → HERE ←and don’t forget to sign up to receive her blog in your inbox at www.lastinfirst.com. You’ll be glad you did.

If you would like to participate in a future “From One Mama To Another: Twenty Questions,” email me at therunawaymama (at) gmail (dot) com.