Month 16: The Mommy Awards

In honor of the recent Emmy Awards, we’re proud to announce the launch of a prestigious new awards show: The Mommy Awards. Sure, the fashion’s not as exciting, since many of the nominees sport juice-stained jeans and nursing bras. And there’s no red carpet, since carpets just need to be vacuumed.

There’s not even an actual awards show, since the nominees are all too busy and couldn’t coordinate their calendars, what with raising their kids, working, cooking, doing laundry, taking the dog to the vet, and reading “Goodnight Gorilla” 16 times a day, not to mention squeezing in the occasional workout, date night or UN summit.

Still, there ARE winners, and isn’t that the point? So without further ado, here are the winners of the 2007 Mommy Awards.

The award for Best Success Story goes to J.K. Rowling. She rose from a divorced single mom who wrote in cafes while her baby was sleeping to become the author of the Harry Potter series, the fastest-selling books in history. At 42, she’s now one of the richest women in Britain, and the world.

The award for Best Do-Gooder goes to Angelina Jolie. The American actress, 32, is a goodwill ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency who regularly visits poor, war-torn countries to raise awareness and improve conditions. She’s adopted three children from Cambodia, Ethiopia and Vietnam, and gave birth to her biological daughter (with hottie Brad Pitt!) in Africa. She has donated millions of her own money to humanitarian causes throughout the world.

The award for Best Survivor goes to a fellow Baltimore mom, Lara H, 35. Diagnosed with cancer shortly after the birth of her second baby, she underwent chemo and is now cancer-free and training for a 100-mile bike race to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Runner up: Claire from the ABC show “Lost.” The girl survived a plane crash, gave birth on a deserted island and is raising her baby with little more than some rags and a couple of coconuts!

The award for Most Musical Mommy goes to Lori McKenna. The singer-songwriter, 39, is a mother of 5 in Mass. Though she’s written music most of her life, it was only when Faith Hill recorded three of McKenna’s songs recently that she became well known. McKenna just released her own album, “Unglamorous.” I heard her on a radio interview and it’s clear that she loves being a mom, and that’s where she gets most of her material. Rock on, Lori!

The award for Best Multitasker goes to Tori Spelling, 34. Even though I was a huge 90210 fan back in the day, I never thought much of this chick. But I started watching her reality show, “Tori & Dean: Inn Love” because I wanted to see how a 9-mos-pregnant celebrity was going to open and operate a B&B while preparing for the birth of her first child. Damned if Tori didn’t get right in there with a paint roller and a toilet brush! She actually is pretty funny and not as dumb as you’d think. And now that her cutie-patootie son, Liam, is born, there’s even more reason to watch. He even peed on her in one episode. Been there, Tori. :)

Wow, this was fun! I can think of lots more categories, so maybe this will be an ongoing feature. Feel free to send in your own Mommy Award nominees!

TIP O’ THE WEEK: Seek out moms who are making a difference in the world. I’m as celeb-obsessed as the next gal, but what I find really inspiring are real women who are managing to both raise their kids and do something cool, creative, and/or charitable with their lives. Whenever I come across a story like that, I tear it out, bookmark or Tivo it for a pick-me-up when I’m having a down day.