(To read a hilarious excerpt from her book, click here)
Canadian Living: Kathy, in this book, you mention having had an office job. What was it?
Kathy Buckworth: I worked for 20 years in corporate marketing, from packaged goods to financial services. My last position was as director, CoBranded Card Marketing at CIBC.
CL: And why did you leave it?
KB: When I found out I was expecting my fourth child, I arranged a six-month maternity leave. However, my nanny resigned two months into the leave (I like to think it was because she was getting married, but I wonder if the fourth put her over the top!), so I extended my leave to the full year. I toyed with the idea of returning three days a week, but in the end I opted to turn my maternity leave into an "eternity" leave. This was about five years ago. I decided then that I wanted to accomplish three things with my newfound spare time: one, spend more time with the children; two, do something with this "writing" thing that had been rattling around in my brain; and three, get involved with a volunteer association. I spend a lot of time with my children (much to my teenagers' dismay), have been very lucky to have had three books and numerous magazine and newspaper articles published, and am now on the board of the Toronto Symphony Volunteer Committee. I love it.
CL: Journey to the Darkside is all about working moms who are ditching the rat race for stay-at-home motherhood. What inspired you to write this book?
KB: As with my first book, The Secret Life of Supermom, which talks about the crazy balance of the working mom, this book came about as a result of my own experiences. I often joke with my husband that I now do everything just to see if there is a book in it!
CL: What's a normal day in your home like?
KB: Define normal. On a weekday, typically my husband is up at 5:45 and out the door shortly after, to his "real" job downtown. I get the kids' lunches ready for school (while simultaneously signing forms, doling out money and generally yelling and shrieking). Once the older three are out the door, my four-year-old and I either head to the gym or to the grocery store, drugstore, sports store…you get the idea. Nicholas then heads off to JK in the afternoon and then I generally write, or pitch story ideas, and send gossipy e-mails. I do quite a bit of television right now, as well as public speaking, so those are worked into our daily routine. The kids always seem to have hockey, dance, swimming, ski, or other assorted lessons and homework in the evenings or after school. We generally have dinner together as a family and then the evening routine of baths, cleanup, getting ready for the next day begins. It's busy but very manageable. We've learned to manage things one crisis at a time.
CL: And on that note, how did you find time to write this book? Not to mention your two others, The Secret Life of a SuperMom and SuperMom: A celebration of all you do.
KB: When I wrote my first book, Secret Life, I was on my maternity leave with my fourth child, and my other kids were three, eight and 10. I wrote in 20-minute spurts, as that's all I could manage. Now I find I have a bit more time, I still only seem to write in 20-minute segments, so I guess that's my maximum capacity…or maybe time between interruptions. Literally as I'm writing this, my 13-year-old son is yelling from the kitchen that the Cheez Whiz jumped out of the fridge in a kamikaze leap at him, and smashed all over the slate floor. It's been about 20 minutes. I'll be right back.
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