 | | | Francie Low Photo provided | | | | | | Lafayette blogger/writer Francie Low was one of 11 winners of the "Listen to Your Mother" essay contest that landed her an opportunity to take her essay about motherhood "from the page to the stage" at the Brava Theater Center in San Francisco May 3. "It's like an American Idol for writers, at a local level; 32 cities across the nation are doing the same thing, all around Mother's Day," says Low. A portion of the proceeds went towards the charity, Chicks in Crisis.
"It's not every day a writer goes live, reading their work to a ticket-paying audience in the name of charity," Low writes on her blog at shoezle.com, so named, she says, by her hubby's polite nod to Low's endless shoe collection dominating their closet. "Us writers are happy to read aloud to anyone - for free," writes Low. "Give us a stage and a mic and we feel like Ellen Degeneres for a night."
Low writes funny, witty posts about the fun and frustrations of motherhood, food, fitness and fashion. She says much of her blog material comes from her two teen boys who have "a bent for parenting the parent and her husband, a cycling and anything-organic enthusiast." Her winning essay, titled "Cool For A Mom," describes how "cool" is in the eye of the beholder and how teens can quickly derail any mom's misconceptions about it.
In the essay, she writes about when she wore a navy sweater sprinkled with "understated jewels" from J. Crew at middle school pick-up and about her 13-year-old's reply: "'Get in the car before my friends see me with you in that sweater! Is it new? It looks old.'"
She continues by describing her high-schooler's response: "As he gets into the car he exclaims, 'Is that new? When did you get it? It looks old. I don't like it.' He sees my new bright yellow tote in the back. 'Did you get a new purse too?' He's practicing to be a husband."
"Days later," she writes, "we talk about being cool. I ask the boys, 'Am I ok? My mom was so not cool.' At least I don't remember her that way. And really nobody's mom was cool like today's moms. I just can't imagine I am like my mom. I don't wear the same orange, polyester no-press pants; mine are black and called yoga pants. I don't listen to elevator music while I iron handkerchiefs either. My boys' response, 'You are cool for a mom. You are not cool for a teenager.' I can live with that."
Low says she was honored to be in the San Francisco cast of "Listen to Your Mother" and was equally honored on behalf of her own mother, who inspired her to write with wit and humor. You can read more about Low's experience on her blog at shoezle.com.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA