It first happened to me about 5 months ago. I was out in public. My two-year-old son was pitching a fit in the stroller, catching the attention of every passer-by. I could almost telepathically hear the judgmental nannies and mothers of only daughters shaking their heads and thinking 'Why can't she control her child?' With 10 blocks to go until home, I was at the end of my rope. My mortification mounting, I reached for my last resource. My only remaining idea for how to calm my screaming son: I handed him THE iPHONE.

Last month, on a quest to find out how Broadway Moms balance the demands of parenthood with the demands of a busy show schedule, I interviewed Supermom/Actress Marissa Jaret Winokur. Marissa provided a lot of validation and a ton of inspiration, but I was still left wondering how NY actors do it. Marissa found a terrific solution....move to Hollywood and become a TV star. While that option sounds very appealing, I think my voicemail must be broken because I haven't gotten a single message from any of the networks asking me to star in their next primetime series. Don't you just hate AT&T?

Any working mom will agree: it's a balancing act. Giving 100% of yourself to your job and 100% of yourself to your family means being twice the person and that's just not possible. So how do successful Broadway parents do it? How do they fit in a full night's sleep and full day of parenting while simultaneously performing at night and auditioning or rehearsing by day? It's something I've struggled with since becoming a mom seven years ago. When I'm not working, I miss being on stage and being a working person. When I am working, I'm constantly feeling guilty, overwhelmed and exhausted. Lots of other performing parents seem to do it all with ease, so I decided to talk to two of my favorite Broadway Moms: Original Hairspray Stars Marissa Jaret Winokur and Kerri Butler, to find out just how they perform the balancing act.

In 2008, Readers of BWW met then ten year old Nicholas Dayton, a New Orleans musical theatre fan who made a connection with the cast of IN THE HEIGHTS when he posted YouTube videos of himself performing pitch-perfect renditions of the show's musical numbers. At the invitation of ITH star Lin-Manuel Miranda, Nicholas joined the entire cast in filming 'Dreams Come True', the video that inspired so many and made Nicholas' personal dreams come true.

If you are like most parents, you love your kids to death but that doesn't stop you from cringing every time your seven-year-old fails to say 'Thank you' or your two-year-old insists on greeting guests with his finger jammed up his nose. Not that those things have EVER happened in my house. This is purely rhetorical. But you know, if anything like that HAD ever happened, I would probably be very appreciative of the lessons taught by the adorable neighborhood playgroup that sings and dances their way through DEAR EDWINA, now playing its third annual holiday run at the DR2 through February 25.

The Galli theatre, now housed at the National Comedy Theatre on West 36th St., is on to something when it comes to casual, accessible children's theatre. This is bare bones, interactive, early childhood performance that dips into the rich archive of Grimm's Brothers' fairy tales. Perfect for the preschool set, their revolving repertoire of improvisational performance stresses audience participation and stays away from sensory overload. The volume is at a comfortable level, the content is simplified and frosted with a contemporary slant, and the expectations are reasonable: In other words, this is a great place to expose your preschooler to his or her first theatrical experience.

Once upon a time, in a far-away land called the Upper West Side, there lived a little girl who was scared of Disney movies. She bravely soldiered through 'Toy Story' and 'Cars' with white knuckles for the benefit of her two-year-old brother, but to this day her parents still have to fast forward through the opening scene of 'Finding Nemo'. (You know....where the other-May ies-Day....get it?) So it was with great trepidation that I took this ultra-sensitive daughter of mine to an advance screening of Disney's latest mega-release, 'Tangled'.

In an age when tolerance, self-acceptance and respect for others are the most important themes for children and their parents, I should have been first in line to check out this timely, accessible musical and the books that inspired it. Not only is it perfect for a kid my daughter's age, it teaches valuable lessons in a fun, highly entertaining way. While my daughter may not be covered in freckles like the heroin of the story, every child has their own particular traits....physical or character....that make them feel like they can't fit in. I have a feeling that this will be a very popular thematic trend in children's theatre for the next few years, and in my opinion, Freckleface Strawberry does it right.

The Pee-Wee Herman Show, now running a limited engagement at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre on Broadway, is not geared towards anyone who is currently a child. It is, however, very much geared towards the inner child inside any one who cheered for Paul Reubens' iconic man-child character as he entertained us for five years on CBS' 'Pee-Wee's Playhouse' or in the movies 'Pee-Wee's Big Adventure' and 'Big Top Pee-Wee'. The show brings out the child inside all of the eager fans who comprise a cult following that began with the birth of Pee-Wee on stage at the Groundlings in 1981, even though some of the costumed-clad enthusiasts who attended the preview performance I saw this month were not even alive yet when Pee-Wee made that midnight debut.

As any preschool or elementary school teacher can tell you, the hardest part about reaching kids is getting their attention. Once you've done that, you can start to get your message across. Last Sunday, I sat in a dark and crowded theatre full of kids who had just come inside from some pretty spectacular October weather. Most of them were jumping around in their seats and few seemed ready to focus and absorb the experience of live theatre.....including my 6-year-old daughter and her 7-year old friend.