I am so thrilled that this story was included on BlogHerMom. Thank you for stopping by to read the whole story!
In my “glamorous” life (yeah, right!) as a television publicist, I recently had lunch with a reporter whom I’d been wooing for weeks in hopes of their publication giving me some positive ink on an upcoming project. To impress this person, I suggested meeting at a swanky restaurant downtown. The lunch itself was fine, but the conversation was certainly dragging.
My style is not to give the hard sell the entire time, but to sprinkle my pitch with casual conversation to hopefully find a shared connection with the reporter. Either I was having an “off” day and was totally boring or this reporter was the least inquisitive person on the planet. I was never more thankful when our salads were quickly followed by our meals and the check discretely handed to me. This meeting, my pitch and potential coverage of my project was heading for a complete bust. I wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible and lick my publicity wounds back in my office. It was also clear that he wanted to make a fast get-away, as he kept checking his iPhone for any excuse to get away. However, like any good publicist, I wanted to give the reporter my business card.
I reached down into my purse to grab my business card holder and mistakenly grabbed this and placed it on the table instead:
My son’s Hot Wheels Houston Fire-EMS Rescue vehicle
Look into the purse of any mom with pre-schoolers and you’re likely to find cars, toys, dolls, lollypops, half-eaten candy, used tissues and wet wipes, among other things. I usually try to clean out my bag each week because otherwise my purse would weigh ten pounds! Apparently, I missed this one…..
I was totally embarrassed, but the reporter chuckled and asked, “How old is your son?” I told him he’s four and totally obsessed with fire trucks, monster trucks, and pretty much anything else that has wheels. He said his son was three and is just as obsessed and loves watching anything with cars or trucks on his iPad, which he sometimes has to wrestle away from his son for order to get work done! The entire tone of the lunch changed and instead of us rushing to get out of there, we sat at the table for another 30 minutes just talking about our kids and parenting in general. I turned him on to Mighty Machines, or what the Hubs and I jokingly refer to as “truck porn” for kids – 45 minutes of nothing but different kinds of trucks. Just enough time for mom or dad to finish up some leftover work, send out an emergency email, get dinner ready or put on a load of laundry! He gave me his “thumbs-up” review of the Children’s Museum of Manhattan which he had visited the prior weekend for the first time.
It was finally time to leave and as we shook hands goodbye, the reporter told me to email him more info on my upcoming project and he’d vet it out, but sounded like he’d be into doing something on it. SUCCESS!!
When I got home that night, I gave my son a kiss and told him that he had helped me at work today – and pulled out his fire department rescue vehicle. I don’t think he really understood what I was telling him, he was just happy to get his “favorite” toy back. Then I decided to forget about work for a while and got down on the floor with my son and daughter and played cars until the Hubs came home!
The Kids In Common by The Harried Mom, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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I’m glad your meeting turned out well. Kids are a great ice breaker.
Happy belated SITS day! Love this story. As a working mom I am always amazed at how little things like this can help make your work better.
Happy SITSday! You just never know what will be your golden ticket, do you?
Great post! Happy SITS day!
Thank you!
I still consider myself newish to the mommy world (my daughter is 14 months), but man I tell you that conversations change when you have kids! More conversations, and the ability to drag them out as well! Glad it worked out for you! Happy SITS day!
Hehe! Happy SITS day
Thank you!!
That’s a fantastic story.
Thank you! Who knew that that little Hot Wheels car would be my own personal rescue vehicle!
I think this is a great story and proves that so many times we believe our kids are a road-block to our careers, our relationships, and our success–but actually……..they’re the common bond that we share with so many people, no matter how powerful or important they are and it goes a long way. They truly are the best thing that’s ever happened to us! Happy SITS Day!
You said it so beautifully, our kids are the bond between us and so many people! Thank you for stopping by today and commenting. I hope you’ll come back soon!
Thats awesome!
Thank you for stopping by & commenting!
Parenthood brings something in common to all of us. What a great story. Happy SITS day!
Thank you…I like to call it the battlescars of parenting! Thanks for coming by, I hope you’ll be back soon.
That is totally awesome, and what a way to break the ice that had frozen over the whole lunch!! Amazing how kids can do that, even when they’re not around. Happy SITS day!
The lunch was a total disaster. Thank goodness for that stupid little Hot Wheels….they have more of a use than stepping over them in the playroom! Thanks for coming by & commenting. I hope you’ll be back soon.
Stopping by from SITS.
What an awesome story! I think much of this ties into a deep down need to relate to the person we’re talking to and make it a more personal conversation than just a strictly business interaction. I’m glad it worked out for you! A mutual bond helped make a boring business meeting work out for the better.
So true! Finding a common ground – something even as small as a Hot Wheels – can open a whole new dimension to a conversation or relationship. Thanks for coming by & commenting. I hope you’ll be back soon!
Sometimes we find the funniest common ground in the bottom of our purses!
Enjoy your SITS day!
I hate to think what else is down there?! Thanks for coming by today!
I found that talking about somthing you have in common always helps an awkward conversation. talking about my daughter has saved plenty conversations that would have otherwise sucked.
It totally changed the entire tone of the lunch….it went from zero to hero (sorry to borrow from Vanilla Ice!). So glad you stopped by today, I hope you will be back soon.
If you like Bob the Builder or Dave from Real Wheels (an oldie but a goodie) then you can be friends with me!
Visiting from SITS. Great post. I often find in my own little career world that if both parties have kids, the topic can be such a wonderful icebreaker.
Sounds like we are both in a similar life stage. I have a full-time career and 3 kids ages 8, 5 and almost 2. I’ll be back to visit again. Feel free to check out my site as well.
I will definitely check your site out. It’s nice to hear from other working moms as to how they balance and how they keep it all together. Thanks for coming by, I hope you will be back!
My purse is filled with random toys too!
I know, they’re like a mobile playroom. I’m afraid sometimes of what I might find down there! Thanks for coming by and commenting. I hope that you’ll be back.
Cool story! Happy SITS day!!
Thanks for stopping by today!
That’s awesome. I find that the kid conversation is a great icebreaker. Who doesn’t love talking about their kids? Hope you got some ink after the meeting!
Happy SITS Day!
There was some serious ink after that meeting…but I hope that I did a good job pitching my project than just having kids in common
but I’ll take it any way I can get it! Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you’ll be back soon!
Stopping by from SITS to today. Awesome story! I knew Hot Wheels were for more than just trippig over.
Haha, so true!! Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you’ll be back soon.
Ahhh – the reporter tango – how I remember those from my “recovering publicist” days
I’m thinking that the truck was definitely your lucky charm 
SO glad to have found your blog. Happy SITS Day!
Ooh, a fellow publicist…we’ll have to compare battle scars!
I just loved reading this! It is always great to connect with strangers and kids seem like the best way!
Glad you enjoyed it – it’s so weird and random what we have in common with other people. Thank you for coming by & commenting. I hope you’ll be by again soon!
love this. this is always my experience as well. having kids is indeed the greatest common denominator among people.
Who doesn’t like gushing over their kids – so it’s a great way to find some common ground. Thank you for coming by & joining in the conversation.
Happy SITS day! A great story. I love the truck and how kids bring us together.
Thank you! It’s the little thing literally that bring us together!
We should ALL do that!!!
Thanks for coming by today! Glad that you enjoyed it!
Happy SITS day! Ok odd perspective here but i envy the first half of your lunch. Now I’m dreaming of how nice it would be to have a lunch without my kids! Imagine talking to someone without being interrupted by kids! or communicating on non-kid related topics!
I know, having a lunch where I don’t have to order for anyone but myself, cut anyone else’s food or ask for ketchup is always a peaceful meal!
Happy SITS day. It IS amazing how somebody who really wants nothing to do with you can suddenly come around if your kids have something in common.
Good to see that their stuff that seems to take over our lives, helped mom! Visiting from SITS!
This is awesome
I always have random toys and things in my purse but they have yet to help me out like this. I may have to let them linger in there a bit longer!
Thank you! I hate to think what is at the bottom of my purse sometimes, but that Hot Wheel totally saved my day!
Look at your kids being helpful!
They really are good kidlets, I don’t know what I did to deserve them!
Too cute! Thanks for linking up to finding the funny!
Anna recently posted..Weekly Wrap Up – March 4
It’s amazing how easily one connects when you find a commonality – and parenting is ALWAYS a great common place to meet
Alison@Mama Wants This recently posted..Love, Life and Loss
It certainly is….and children I’m finding are a great connector! Thanks for taking the time to come by.
oh gosh, I LOVE this! I love that you found common ground in a simple thing like your little guy’s truck. I think you need to make sure you always have a toy handy in your bag.
Thanks for linking up!!
Elaine recently posted..This Day
Thanks Elaine for the link up, it’s lots of fun and I appreciate you giving me a shout out! There’s always a toy in my bag, I always seem to miss at least one of them….so glad I missed this one!
So well written and enjoyable! Amazing the things that connect us.
It really is funny what can connect us…a little car and it changed the entire luncheon!
What a great read. Thanks.
Thanks Chris and I see I owe you an email too! xo
This is a great story. Really pulls together all the threads of the Harried Mom’s life!
Thanks Todd! I appreciate it and you taking the time to read & comment about it.
+1 for Hot Wheels! Just goes to show that it truly is the “whole person” that we bring to work – no matter where that work may be. And listen, I’m happy for you to take me to a swanky lunch to pitch something to me. My blog gets at least – at LEAST – 200 unique hits a week. That’s worth about five oyster crackers, right?
Kristin recently posted..Super Bowl XLVI is Older Than I Am.
It really is the whole person we bring to work. I was never more happy to see that truck in the bottom of my purse after this lunch! And we should have a swanky lunch regardless!