Melissa Joan Hart
Her Magic Potion for Motherhood
It's a shame that Melissa Joan Hart can't just mix up a magic potion to teach her 2-year-old son, Mason, to use the potty. That's probably what her witchy alter ego would have done in Sabrina the Teenage Witch, the TV show Hart starred in from 1996 to 2000. But Hart's human, and she's discovered that the only magic formula for teaching your child is patience and consistency. That's why she's working with Pull-Ups to get the word out about tips to make potty training easier and more fun. One of her best resources was a free Potty Training Success DVD available on the Pull-Ups Web site (www.pull-ups.com/na/default.aspx), and she wants other parents to know that it's available to them as well.
"I've been deep in the trenches of potty training and I actually used the DVD because I believe in using every available resource for tips and advice," Hart says. "Now I'm also doing an online journal and video diary for Pull-Ups documenting my potty training adventures."
Watching Hart grow up on TV makes it hard to believe that she's now 32 years
old and the mother of two sons. Mason, whose full name is Mason Walter Wilkerson,
was recently joined by a little brother, Braydon Hart Wilkerson, born on March
12, 2008. She's been married since 2003 to musician Mark Wilkerson.
Hart wasn't much older than Mason – she was 4 – when she starred in her first commercial for a bathtub doll. She remembers it well, particularly her embarrassment at having to take her top off in front of a camera crew.
"I remember that I had to get in the bathtub with the doll and I kept saying to my mom, 'But they can see my boobies!'" Hart says. "So they ended up kind of blocking me until I could slip under the bubbles. It was kind of a traumatic moment, but once I got into the bubbles I forgot all about it."
Hart went on to do many more commercials, as well as guest star and starring roles on TV. But the part that made her a household name was the title role in the situation comedy Clarissa Explains It All, which ran from 1991 to 1994. With just a short break, she went on to star in Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. Since its cancellation, she's kept busy with acting and directing, as well as working on projects developed by her production company, Hartbreak Films.
As we spoke, Hart was locked out of her hotel room – someone had taken her children for a walk in their stroller so she could do an interview and her room keys went with them. She handled the unexpected development with humor and grace, an example of how she's trying to juggle all the roles she plays.
Right now, Hart more than has her hands full, because in addition to trying to potty train Mason, she's trying to focus on breastfeeding Braydon – something she feels is crucial for his health and development. She says that she really struggles against impatience, against trying not to rush Mason, even though she'd like it if he'd just hurry up and train already. Instead, she uses some of the following to help make potty training fun and to have some consistency in rewards:
It also helps, she says, to be so close to her mother, Paula. Hart says that
her mom, who is also a partner in her production company, is her greatest source
of advice. "My mom had seven kids and I've learned everything from her," Hart
says. "She's even got a 10-year-old, so she isn't that far off from where I am."
Hart also notes that she has probably the best job in the world when it comes to parenting, because she only does a few movies a year and can usually take her kids with her on location. Husband Mark travels with his band, but is home as much as he's away, and when he's home he's an extremely hands-on father.
Right now, Hart is working on a new movie, produced by her own company, a thriller called 9 Dead. She's also working on a family movie for ABC Family channel about a couple who gets married for the gifts. She says it's very funny and hopes it meets with the success of her last ABC Family movie, Holiday in Handcuffs, which is still the highest-rated program ever to run on that network.
Above all, she's focusing on family, something that she says comes naturally to her, as she was raised to be very family oriented.
"Motherhood changes you," Hart says. "It makes you slow down and savor your life a little more."
want to see more?
Every Child Is Different: Individual Tales from the Potty Training Trenches
Are You Ready? Determining If Your Child Is Ready for Potty Training
Imitation Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery: Should You Let Your Child Watch You Use the Potty?
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