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Arts & Entertainment

Calling all Half Insane Working Moms

Book event for area resident, working mom, Real Simple magazine Editor-in-Chief and now author Kristin Van Ogtrop at Plates on the Park.

Life is anything but simple for Kristin van Ogtrop author of the newly released Just Let Me Lie Down: Necessary Terms for the Half-Insane Working Mom from Little Brown and Company.

A mother of three, wife, blogger and editor-in-chief of Real Simple, the magazine whose tag line is Life Made Easier, Every Day, van Ogtrop is frequently exhausted, but she honestly doesn't mind.

"The pressure is a privilege. I've got nothing to really complain about," van Ogtrop told me during the recent phone interview she managed to squeeze in between business meetings and other book publicity commitments. "I have a great job, a great family and so many friends. I'm truly blessed."

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Fellow half-insane working moms and fans of any sort can meet van Ogtrop while enjoying a night of wine and food from 6:30-8 p.m. on April 13 at Plates Restaurant. Cost is $35 and includes a copy of Kristin's book. RSVP to Anderson's Bookshop at 914-834-6900.

The very busy working mom decided to write Just Let Me Lie Down after receiving so many positive comments on the blog she writes for the Real Simple Web site.  'You make me laugh', 'You make me feel normal,' they wrote. 

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"So many books about being a working mom have a 'this sucks' attitude, talking about how hard and exhausting it is. It is exhausting but working moms need to laugh about it," van Ogtrop said. 

Her book's essays, experiences and observations deliver just that message.

Organized alphabetically, most working moms can appreciate "D's"—Deathbed Regrets that van Ogtrop describes as:

            "The list of failings that all mothers carry in their heads. For a working mother, the list may be governed by the fact that she spent too much of her kids' childhoods in the quiet comfort of her office."

 Some of the author's own regrets include:

            "I did not have a parent-teacher conference when my oldest son was in eighth-grade because I lost the letter telling me when to schedule it," and

            "Not one of my children has a baby book. Someone should probably put me in jail for that."

I asked the Real Simple editor for her top three simple tips to help other working moms.  She responded:

1.      "Let go of idealized notions of motherhood and working woman. Lower the bar. Succeed without being perfect."

2.      "Get comfortable with delegating to babysitter, husband, grandparents, friends. Delegate as much as you possibly can and delegate at work too. Let go of some of the control."

3.      "A good pair of black pants.  It just makes life easier."

Does she buy those black pants in The Westchester? Maybe Ann Taylor on Palmer is closer, but van Ogtrop wouldn't say.  She uses her maiden name and notes her residence vaguely as "outside of New York City," desiring keep her often very public and private life separate.

She eventually did narrow down the geography to the Sound Shore, offering another simple clue—that she frequently shops at the Larchmont Trader Joe's.

The author said the biggest challenge is that there are just not enough hours in the day and the difficulty of trying to balance conflicting obligations like deciding between a work commitment and attending one of her three children's school events.

And what is the other 50 percent of the half-insane working mom in the title?

"Highly functioning," she asserted.

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