Millions have watched her kids grow up on the show, and "Live" has taken her family from our house at ABC7 all the way to the White House. When it came to writing her first book, Laurie Gelman chose a topic close to home, her years as a "Class Mom."
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"I did it because I thought it would be cool," Gelman said. "And the first time I got asked to do it, I thought I'd won the lottery."
Her friend Kelly Ripa warned Gelman that serving as a liaison between parents and teachers was a thankless job.
"She was like, 'Say no, say no. What are you doing? Don't say yes,'" Gelman said.
But she ignored that advice.
"By the time I was on my fifth round being class mom, I lost all my enthusiasm, too," Gelman said. "My emails got snarkier and snarkier."
Her book is fictional, but the emails inside are real -- hilarious messages she actually sent to other parents.
"And if you don't like what you get, well then, good luck finding someone who cares," one of the emails reads.
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Gelman said her husband was "horrified," and eventually she got fired from a job she volunteered for.
A few years later, Gelman turned lemons into lemonade from the Upper West Side, turning her class mom experiences into the book.
Her first act played out on TV, her second at home, and her third is just beginning.
"What it gave me was a sense of accomplishment that I started it," Gelman said. "I went through tough times. I finished, and I'm really enjoying this part of it."
"Class Mom" reads funny and true, and parents and those who love them will laugh knowingly when they open up the book.
Gelman said her daughters are proud of her because, as she puts it, they can see their mom "doing something other than being mom."