‘MOMMIES’ IN CHARGE

The day that I’m to interview Marilyn Kentz and Caryl Kristensen--”The Mommies”--turns out to be a perfect one. Like a lot of real-life mommies, I often feel my life is a sitcom.

By 9:15 a.m. I have accidentally tossed my car keys into the garbage can and am on my hands and knees when the mommies arrive. I challenge these real-life cul de sac neighbors-turned stand-up comics-turned TV stars to find the humor in life.

They saunter into my house and run smack into my daughter’s “whoopsie daisy” doll, a life-size newborn whose bloodcurdling scream and twisting head occur simultaneously. “My god, it’s the Exorcist meets Winnie Mandela,” roars Kristensen upon seeing my politically correct choice. “Can we use her for an episode?” asks Kentz.

I’m starting to warm up, especially when they instinctively start tidying up. I tell the mommies about the previous night when both my children had unexpectedly fallen asleep by 8. I was wild with elation. Should I bathe? Watch a video? Read? Eat a pint of ice cream? By 10, I was exhausted with indecision and secretly hoping I might hear a childish cry.

Lo and behold, they were doing an episode called “Home Alone” on just such an incident. “We’re trying to create a realistic picture of all the emotions a mother goes through in a day,” says Kristensen.

Viewers still may be jarred by the mommies’ obviously limited acting ability, not unlike Ms. Arnold when she started. But their humor and well-earned wrinkles hit home.

Leaving mine, they oooh, ahh and cuddle with my baby who’s being bathed in the kitchen.

“I used to put my daughter in the sink too,” recalls Kentz. “Until the dishwasher went on and I burned her.”