I used to watch Happy Endings and I have a great deal of affection for Casey Wilson. She’s a talented comedienne, and she ended up marrying the boss, David Caspe (who created Happy Endings) and she’s currently expecting their first child. She covers the latest (and last, apparently) issue of Fit Pregnancy. While I usually follow news about her when it comes around, I don’t think I’ve ever written about her? So I was pleased to find out in this interview that she seems to be just like you would imagine – sort of bubbly, funny and authentic. She talks a lot about her pregnancy (obvs) and how difficult it is to work through her pregnancy. Some highlights:
Her “rocky” first trimester: “I felt tired and sick and in a fog, like an extreme hangover, until about week 16. I thought, ‘Surely, this is the worst part of parenting.’ Then I remembered when I was 15, and my mom said I couldn’t go out—I pulled two giant brass sconces out of the wall with my bare hands. There are rougher waters ahead, I fear.”
Working through her pregnancy: “It’s difficult because you can’t just stay home. But in some ways, it was good to learn to set limits. I’m someone who always says, ‘Oh, sure, I’ll do that! I’ll work an 80-hour week! Not a problem.’ This was the first time my body simply said, ‘No, you can’t do that.'”
She had to tell the show that she needed shorter days: “It was uncomfortable. But there was a freedom in creating boundaries, especially when I knew that it wasn’t just Casey who was saying no.”
She wants two kids: “We both come from two-kid families, and I can’t imagine going through life without a sibling, especially later in life. My mom passed away about eight years ago, and I’m not sure how I would have dealt with that without my brother. Going through pregnancy having lost my mom is a whole different journey. It’s bittersweet, because it’s simply not the experience of knowing your mom is going to come out for two months and help take care of the baby.
She’s relieved she’s expecting a boy: “I thought I wanted a girl, but I almost felt relieved when I found out I was having a boy. Having lost my mom, and having had such a close mother-daughter relationship, I felt like somehow I wasn’t ready for a girl. I feel like the universe is letting me try this out with a boy first.”
I always find it interesting to hear what parents-to-be want, a girl or a boy. In my informal assessment, it seems like a lot of mothers-to-be always say they want boys, although I think mothers of sons are always thinking, “Maybe we should try for the girl.” While the dads-to-be are often a mixed bag: some believe they would be terrible with a boy, some believe they would terrible with girls. Anyway, I like that that Casey describes it as “Somehow I wasn’t ready for a girl” – girls are so much work! So much drama.
Photos courtesy of Fit Pregnancy.
I was waaaaaaaay less trouble than my younger brother. He was dramatic, angry, uncommunicative and took stupid risks. Boys aren’t necessarily easier.
I’m super bummed Happy Endings was cancelled and Two Broke Girls still lives.
I was also the “easy kid” compared to my brother who was very angsty and liked to wear my pants in middle school (back when wearing girl pants was the cool thing for the “emo” kids to do). Just goes to show you that you can’t always assume the girls will bring the drama. I’ve always been the more laid back and level headed sibling, and I laughed out loud when I read “took stupid risks” because my brother was the king of stupid risks. Gotta love ’em.
I bet she’s probably remembering herself as a young girl and how much grief she gave her mother. Plus it seems like her mother’s death affected her a lot and maybe she isn’t ready to call upon those memories that would help her raise a daughter.
Just be happy you are having a healthy baby.
Why do people say that? Being happy about the sex of your baby doesn’t mean you don’t want a healthy kid. The two things aren’t mutually exclusive.
No, but if you’ve lost a child, or have had miscarriage(s), or have a child with chronic health issues, it can be hard to hear of others’ “gender disappointment” (even though that’s not what Casey expressed). You never know who is fighting a hard battle or what difficult lens they’re using to see the world. 🙁
No, they aren’t mutually exclusive, but I know what NewWester means. Why put so much energy into the sex? You’re going to fall head over heels for whatever the baby turns out to be. I never had such a concern for which sex, though, just wanted a child, so maybe I can’t relate to it.
She’s not putting energy into the sex, she’s making a comment about how broken hearted she is that she doesn’t have her mum around her right now. Open your eyes and your mind and actually make sense about what people are saying.
This whole ‘just be grateful’ thing needs to back off. I suffered from infertility too and fell pregnant with a miracle baby. I was grateful -sure I was- but being grateful didn’t stop my baby and me from almost dying during birth and it didn’t stop me from struggling and getting post partum depression. You know what did make my PPD worse? The thought that I ‘should just be grateful’. It stopped me from reaching out and getting help. That’s not fair on anyone particularly my child.
Penny Has a Baby!!!!
I like her a lot too, she is funny and seems sweet. She looks great here, and I wish her and her family the best.
I wonder how uncomfortable it was to tell her show she needed fewer hours though- her husband is the creator and executive producer!
Right??!?!
I have two girls and a boy and thus far my 4 year old girls have been no match for the drama caused by their 2 year old brother but whatever floats your boat.
I second that! Two girls then a boy and he’s the biggest diva of them all. However I’ve heard that girls are easy young and then the drama hits and boys are a handful early then they totally chill. I hope I don’t get a cross section of drama.
So happy for Casey. The gender thing is a bit like a favorite child, we all think about it and maybe we swing one way or the other but if you say anything it’s a no win situation.
Mom of 2 boys and 1 girl here. Toddler boys are harder than toddler girls. But Teenage girls are harder than teenage boys. My boys gave me a heart attack when toddlers (jumping off things, running away, etc). It is my teenage girl that I’m having the hardest time with: the drama and the attitude. My boys don’t cop an attitude ever and have 0 drama. By far, boys are easier.
I can’t see the drama or work about girls. For every one toubled girl, we have four troubled boys. But I’m not questioning Casey, I think it’s a very personal matter.
I don’t know if she said she wanted a boy because boys are easier – I thought she said she just lost her mother and wasn’t ready to forge a new mother-daughter relationship.
But yeah, with you on the girls vs. boys thing. My sisters and I fought and cried a lot as teenagers. My brother put his fist through a bunch of doors and then got a “stunt driving” ticket for driving over 60 k over the speed limit. I know what I’d pick.
I love that she was honest about it, I know a lot of women who have a preference but are afraid to admit it publicly because they’ll get slammed or called selfish, which is ridiculous. There’s nothing wrong with wanting one or the other as long as you love what you get no matter what:)
I like her too, she seems pretty real.
My sister had a preference too but she was way more extreme – she has two boys and she has always said that she doesn’t want to have a girl because girls are much harder to raise, have much harder lives and their problems start way earlier because of mean girl-friends, boy drama, emotional problems etc. She felt like raising a boy is a piece of cake but life has already proven to her it is never as black and white. Little guy-friends can be as mean, boys are often peer pressured to not be good students and bullied when they are not good at sports, they also can have emotional problems and be fragile, be rebellious during their teenage years and it’s not like they raise themselves – mothers and fathers should set a good example to both genders. This way of thinking is caused by centuries of perpetuating gender stereotypes and qualifying some universal characteristics as feminine or masculine. People still believe that being emotional and complicated is a female thing and being though and reserved a male one. It’s sadly true that males are more likely to have a better paid job in their adult lives but raising them is just as though.
Saying that – I’m guilty of quietly having a preference too but it’s totally shallow and embarrassing. I want girls because there are already too many boys in my family, I love cute little girl-clothes and I already have many female names picked and in my country there are no pretty male names. But boys will be ok too, even if they’ll remain nameless 😉
Well said!
Nicely put! Hope you get your girls! ;o) I have a daughter and she is fabulous! But I secretly wanted a boy because there were so many girls already in the family. Maybe my next one will be a boy!
I read somewhere about a woman who doesn’t want girls because cleaning vaginas from you know what is a big no no for her;P.
I hate the battlefield – I’ve heard “girls take away their mother’s looks” – ICK ICK ICK. What a messed up society we live in. Boy or girl – both can be a delight, both can be terrors…they’re both HUMAN. I think most mommy and daddies to-be have a preference…but when they find out what they’re having (be it boy or girl), perhaps there’s initial disappointment that floats by, but soon joy arrives and they can’t imagine life any other way.
Casey Wilson is the best…! She seems like such a genuine and loving person…and she’s hilarious!! And I agree with others that she didn’t say she didn’t want a girl…she’s just nervous about emulating the cherished relationship that she had with her mom.
I LOVED Happy Endings! Lol’ed SO hard at the “pulling two giant brass sconces out of the wall with my bare hands when I was 15” thing. Ah, teenage girls… 🙂
I know, I could totally picturing her raging out and doing it in a comedic way now.
Enough with the “girls are hard because drama” nonsense. It’s sexist drivel, and when we say it it just makes it OK for men to say it too. There’s no guarantee based on gender which kid is going to be harder.
Completely agree! I hate when people say that!
Good point.
TRUE. I have two girls with two distinct personalities and I am so sick of having people smug at me about it. “Good luck with the teen years.” Or, “You’re going to have your hands full.” Blerg. I will have my hands as full as any parent of any child of any gender, in ways unique to their interests and moods. I’m not dreading it at all and I know people aren’t trying to be rude but I sometimes resent being encouraged to dread it. No one suggests that my sister in law (who has two boys) is going to have to drink her way through her kids’ high school days.
That is not what she is saying. She is saying that she didn’t want another mother-daughter relationship just yet because she’s reeling from losing her mum.
I don’t blame her. I don’t think I’d be able to handle a teenage daughter.
I am personally scared to death of what my daughter will be like as a teenager. Knowing what hell raising demons my husband and I were, we have “The Mother’s Curse” coming big time. She has the side-eye down at birth!
My sister had four boys before I had my daughter. Let me tell you, my kid is a saint compared to them
*Boys* and *girls* watch how their mothers deal with patriarchal attitudes about women. We rock and rule the world in this way. There’s really something about an independent and feisty outlook. We have the opportunity to change the world in a very real way as mothers.
I don’t want children, but I always felt like if I changed my mind and had boys, I’d be frightened. Boys just seem so messy, loud, and hard to handle to me. I was a quiet little girl growing up working on puzzles, playing video games, and reading books. One of the many reasons I wouldn’t have children, is I just couldn’t handle noise of any kind, I like a very silent home. My boyfriend and I are doing separate things in our home and you can hear a pin drop. I can’t imagine any loud children, it would drive us bonkers.
Boys seem to have a much higher rate of mental health issues, are prone to violent behavior and acting out. No, thank you. . Would much rather have a daughter…
All I ever wanted was a boy, well I got him… It hasn’t been easy AT ALL, but I’m pretty comfortable if I have a boy or girl later, or none at all. I got what I asked for the first time.
There is so much projection going on here on this thread. Sheesh.
I find it kind of sad that this narrative about girls being so much more drama/hard work still gets played around. It has nothing to do with gender, it has to do with how you raise your child, ffs.
I find it counterproductive to equality issues, tbh: I think that kind of thinking accentuates the problem from the get go. So many female fetuses get aborted just bc they are of the wrong gender, is it really ok to support any kind of preferential thinking?
Us three girls were never out until morning, never in trouble with the law or anything, never bringing disrespectful boyfriends home…..the things other parents let boys our age do, just because they were boys…my god, my parents would have thrown me out of the house for some of the boys behavior if I behaved that way.
I don’t think it has anything to do with how you raise your child. I have 3 boys, two of whom have been total drama kings since BIRTH, and one who is totally chill. That’s one thing I’ve definitely learned having multiple children – you get what you get, and you just have to learn how to manage each one individually so they don’t become total brats. But drama, tempers, sensitivity, talent, etc…all come pre-determined.
I’m happy I had 3 boys first, because I’m not a super girly girl and I think I would’ve been much more anxious about raising a girl, especially if she was the “princessy” type. Now that I’m actually expecting a girl after having rowdy (and plenty dramatic, btw) boys, I’m more than ready for some frills and glitter! (On the other hand, a “tomboy” would fit right in, too!)
I too preferred a boy first time around and used the old wives tales about position to influence the boy “boys” getting to the egg first. I had a boy who was later diagnosed on the autism spectrum, but despite his social struggles he’s still easier than my girl that came a few years later. It’s probably my fault that she’s so high maintenance — she has all my faults so I get to have them mirrored back to me every day. Ha!
I love them both equally and despite my preference of having a boy and then a girl, I would have been thrilled to have a healthy baby either way.
Luckily we were not asked what kind of kid we wanted, so we got one of each, at the same time.
Both of them can be exhausting, both are fun, fiercely competitive, helpful, cheerful, and they are a delight to be around when they’re both pouting or having temper tantrums. The girl started her difficult phase early, at 11 going on 21, whereas her brother was a shy, cute little angel back then. He’s only now, at 15, trying to catch up, being wise beyond his years, thinking we need to hear his ideas on how we juggle careers and them, when everything has worked out fine for everyone so far.
Why are females always considered to be the problem when it is the personality of the person not the gender that defines whether there will be personality issues or conflicts. People who have girls may be creating problems because they go into parenting believing girls will give them more problems.
I completely agree. My sister and I were sweet as teenagers and I hate when people say sexist things about teen girls being so horrible to raise. >:(
Nope. I always wanted a girl and am so happy I had one. Seeing little boys makes me realize I wouldn’t have been happy with a boy.
As others have said, her preference had nothing to do with girl drama. She just lost her mom and is still grieving their close relationship. Her relief was not having to face the new mother/daughter relationship so soon.
I will say that I’ve been told by friends with special needs children that saying “just be glad they’re healthy” is hurtful. To them it sounds like they shouldn’t be grateful for their child, with whatever physical challenges it has. It was good for me to hear, as I’ve probably said it 100 times.