Jessica Harper

By Teri Brown

Each month, iParenting.com spotlights a mother who inspires and moves us, who embodies the qualities that we all admire in a person, a woman and a mother. Above all, the Mom of the Month is dedicated to her children. Rich or poor, famous or not, she shines as an example of what mothering is all about.

Meet August's Mom of the Month, Jessica Harper, a singer, songwriter and author. Harper also is a mother of two teenage girls, which provides her most rewarding and challenging role yet.

To say that Jessica Harper is a mom who wears many hats is an understatement. This creative actor, singer and writer has devoted her life not only to her own children but to children everywhere with her innovative and award-winning children's albums and books. How does this busy mother of two teenage girls do it all?

"I do a lot of juggling and have a very supportive husband," Harper says. "If I need to go away on business, he'll happily be a single parent for a few days. If I need to throw a book party, he's there 100 percent, inviting friends and colleagues and buying the ice cream."

Because Harper does the bulk of her work at home she takes care of most of the weekday parenting chores. They split the weekend activities, and Harper writes while the girls are in school.

"I set aside time every day to write," Harper says. "Some days it's just an hour, but as long as I keep making progress and have something I enjoy writing, it's fine." Harper's career began in film, and she has more than a dozen features to her credit including roles in Stardust Memories with Woody Allen, Pennies from Heaven with Steve Martin, My Favorite Year with Peter O'Toole and Minority Report with Tom Cruise. She has worked in both television – It's Gary Shandling's Show – and on stage – Dr. Selavy's Magic Theatre and National Anthems with Al Pacino.

She has produced six award-winning music CDs for children including A Wonderful Life.

In 1999 she switched focus again and began writing children's books. Her latest book, Lizzy's Ups and Downs (HarperCollines, 2004), is her fourth book with HarperCollins and the fourth book she has collaborated on with her sister, illustrator Lindsay Harper duPont. Her inspiration for her creativity has always sprung from the relationship she has with her daughters.

"Elizabeth and Nora have been, since they were born, my muses and my inspiration," Harper says. "A few years ago, I wrote a book for HarperCollins called Nora's Room (HarperCollins, 2001), which was very well received. Elizabeth was understandably a little miffed. I was then working on a new book called Dora's Do's and Don'ts. But I thought, better to have peace in my house than an alliteration, so I changed the title, and that's how Lizzy's Do's and Don'ts (Harpercollins Juvenile Books, 2002) came to be. It is followed by this year's Lizzy's Ups and Downs. And if I want to keep the peace, I'd better produce another one for Nora!"

Her children are a couple of her biggest fans and will even offer candid opinions during the revision process when asked. "My children, I think, are proud of my books," Harper says. "Not just because they are frequently featured in them, but because their mom is an author, which is, to them, quite a concept. Also, when they're with me at a signing, Nora gets to sign Nora's Room and Lizzy signs Lizzy's Do's and Don'ts and that makes them very happy!"

Her latest Lizzy book chronicles the ups and downs of a single day in the life of a child and helps children to realize that most days are made of ups and downs. All of Harper's stories have situations and characters that children can recognize, and the illustrations are vivid and imaginative. Mothers also realize the truth at the heart of her stories.

"Lizzy's Do's and Don'ts is about a mother/child relationship, as is its sequel, so I think other moms find those books particularly appealing," Harper says. "But most important, I think, is that mothers can sense that there's a mother's heart at the core of my stories, a love for and empathy with children that all mothers share, and that's why they like them."

As evidenced by her work, creativity comes as naturally as breathing to Harper. Her favorite pursuits are now recording and writing, though she admits that her tastes have changed through the years.

"I think your passions change with your life," Harper says. "Now that I am older and my children are so busy, going to the movie set doesn't have the same appeal that it used to. Writing satisfies my need for creativity and my need for peace and solitude."

Like many mothers, Harper feels that this time spent quietly pursuing her creative side helps to refresh and refill her energy levels and leaves her better able to meet the needs of her busy family life. She also believes that most mothers have a creative side, though it manifests itself in many different ways.

"Some women have the ability to create a beautiful home or garden," Harper says. "Others start their own businesses. I have also seen women who are frustrated by their lack of creative outlet, though many don't even recognize that lack as the cause of their frustration."

Harper's own girls are both creative, and she is proud to see that creativity growing within them. "Both my girls have interest in various creative activities," Harper says. "They like to sing. Nora is in the chorus at school, and Elizabeth is always in the school musical. Both girls have shown an interest in writing. Nora had a piece published in Stone Soup magazine last year. She likes to write stories for fun and will sit at the computer for hours spinning a tale."

But she also acknowledges that they have many interests outside of creative pursuits such as sports and debate. "They could end up doing just about anything," Harper says. "I know, however, that they will always have creative spirits and will engage in or simply enjoy the arts regardless of what they end up doing with their lives."

Of all the hats that Harper wears, motherhood not only is the most important, it is the one she enjoys wearing the most.

"I love being a mother," Harper says. "I can't imagine not being very involved in parenting. Of all the things I have done or ever expect to do, parenting is by far the most rewarding, and I wouldn't trade it for anything."