Q: Who helps you keep up to date with news and current events?
A: Sesame Street. That show is the only thing that allows us time to read the paper in the morning. And in our line of work, we absolutely have to keep abreast of what's going on, or we'll never be able to keep up. So Piper zones out in front of Big Bird for an hour, and we get our chance to read the New York Times.
Q: Who's the go-to children's book author?
A: Mo Willems. We are very, very familiar with that pigeon. You know, the one who wants to drive a bus, stay up late, and eat hot dogs. Yeah, we know all about that pigeon.
Q: Who do you rely on for babysitting?
A: Our parents. We don't have a vast cache of sitters to call upon, so whenever Piper's grandparents come down from Canada to visit, we literally shove the baby into their arms and run for the door. We don't even say hello. We see a chance for escape, and we take it. The same thing happens when we go back home—we don't see our parents, but the baby sees a lot of them.
Q: Who recommends good restaurants?
A: Frank Bruni of the New York Times. He never leads me astray. We don't get to eat out often, but when it does happen, we are prepared. We eschew all one-star restaurants and go straight for the big names. And we know we have to squeeze six months' worth of fine dining into one night, so we're total gluttons. By the time we leave the restaurant, we feel like we're dying.
Q: Who is a mother you look to for inspiration?
A: Joan Crawford. I look to her for inspiration about what not to do. Thanks to her, I know not to make my daughter sit at the table past midnight until she eats all of her liver. I'm too afraid Piper will write a tell-all book about me someday.
Q: Who helps keep you organized?
A: My husband, Jason [Jones]. If it were up to me, our apartment would consist of nothing but piles. I'm one of those people who lives tunneling through mountains of old pizza boxes and unread books. I toss my shoes wherever I please. I figure when Armageddon comes, I'll save myself behind a stack of outdated magazines. But Jason natters at me until I clean up after myself, and I appreciate it because I really need it.
Q: When things get crazy, who brings you down to earth?
A: Jason. He's so levelheaded. We balance each other out. We turn to each other a lot because, as actors, you get so easily caught up in the drama of things. It's so easy to obsess about the future. About once a month, there will be a what's-going-to-happen-to-us moment, but together we sail smoothly. Without him, I'd be off floating in space somewhere.
Q: Who can you count on for a laugh?
A: Piper, our daughter. We think she's hilarious, even though probably nobody else does. We're like that Little House family that sat around the fire playing the fiddle—only we don't play the fiddle, we make the baby dance.
Q: Who can you count on for an honest opinion?
A: My mother. She can be brutally honest. She once sent me an e-mail that said, "Gosh, you're looking really thick. Are you pregnant again?" That's a wonderful question to hear when you're not pregnant and had been feeling good about yourself previously that day. But to be fair, I did look thick in that shirt. I can't fault her on that one. She may have used a horrible delivery system, but she made me see that that shirt needed to be retired. If your own mother asks something like that, you know the rest of the world is thinking it. (And by that I mean the few people who see me.)
