Peet knows she sounds a little hardcore. "I have a lazy, fluffy, actor-y side that's instinctive," says the Manhattan native, who's best known for her roles in the 2003 film Something's Gotta Give and the TV show Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. "And I have a side that's practical and into statistical evidence. I'm not a casual person."
That MO serves her well as a working mom who travels often, either flying between homes in Manhattan and Los Angeles or filming on location. When she was shooting movies in Boston and Vancouver last winter, she and her nanny made sure to have the following items at every hotel: a white-noise machine, a fan, a microwave, foam letters for the tub, Frankie's blankets and crib bumper, her mix CD, and all her favorite books (which Peet propped up around her play area). The linchpin, at least in Peet's mind, was a stuffed cow—but Frankie barely acknowledged it. "I was like, You'll love this cow, damn it! This will be your transitional object if it's the last thing I do!" Peet recalls. "I thought I had to trick her into thinking she was home."
But more and more, Peet understands that all Frankie needs to feel at home is her mom, and that the more she works, the happier a presence she is in Frankie's life. "I still feel totally competitive, and I still feel desperately sad when I don't win a role," says the actress, adding that she hopes her drive will rub off on her daughter. "When you're able to identify your passions, then your child will be able to identify hers. It's a great template."
Work has also been a wonderful way to avoid tumbling into what Peet calls "the Little Children vortex"—showing up snackless at the playground, obsessing over other toddlers' vocabularies, then spiraling into insecurity over her own parenting abilities—a sequence she's played out numerous times. "One surprise of motherhood for me was how little control I have," she says. "I thought it would be an extended, blissful romance with me at the helm, cuddling this little creature to life. It's been bittersweet and humbling to let her lead, and to not try to be perfect myself."
