Alison Sweeney, 41, is covering the June issue of Redbook, and I know there’s not a ton of interest in her but I like her, I find her refreshing, and I wanted to talk about her. Plus I learned some things about her in this interview that I didn’t know, like the fact that she’s married to a police officer. Her husband is an actual CHiPs officer, and it sounds like they work well together to parent their two children, Ben, 12, and Megan, 8. She’s doing some producing and acting for the Hallmark channel, and I’ll admit those cheesy films are a guilty pleasure of mine (my mom watches them and I got into them with her, ok?). Plus she’s coming back to Days of Our Lives and while I don’t watch that anymore there was a period of time when I did. I grew up with soaps in the 80s, what can I say?
On taking a break after her ACL injury:
The whole sleep-when-you’re-dead thing? I’m over that. Before, I was always going, as though if I took a break I would never get up again. My doctor saying, ‘No, you have to do this’ gave me permission to rest. I can’t say I ever came to enjoy it, but I learned to appreciate it. If you can train yourself to take 20-minute catnaps, you’ll wake up really alert.On the silver lining of tearing her ACL:
At first it was hard for me to even get out of bed—which was good in one way, because I realized how many things I just do for my kids so we can all move on with our lives. I’m sure a lot of moms relate to Oh, it’s just easier if I get the orange juice. The first morning they brought me breakfast in bed, I was so proud. I thought, They really can do this stuff. Maybe I’m not giving them enough responsibility!On teaching equality in her household:
The most crucial thing is role-modeling equality in the house. My career is just as important as my husband’s, and we celebrate each other. We take turns being the disciplinarian. We are also really respectful of our kids: My daughter, just as much as my son, knows that she has a voice and it is okay to speak up and be heard.On explaining negative news about law enforcement and the judicial system to her kids:
My husband is a cop, so my kids really respect them, but I understand that for some people there are extenuating circumstances and they don’t [trust the police]. Of the men and women who commit to being officers, the much larger percentage of them are honorable, brave people, and we should be appreciative that they are willing to risk their lives for us on a daily basis. However, as in every profession, there are going to be people who aren’t good at their jobs, don’t try hard, or are bad guys who got into it for the wrong reasons. The news emphasizes those stories. I want my kids to know that it is their responsibility to understand any situation they are dealing with comprehensively and not just listen to one side.
I like how magnanimously she addressed the issue of bad cops and police prejudice and violence. She was just really vague and respectful without dismissing either side. I also liked how she said that she works with her husband as equals and that both of their careers are important. Of course one of her quotes stood out for me though, the one in the title about naps. Holy crap I could not function without a nap every afternoon. I don’t take 20 minute catnaps though, I rest for about 40 minutes to an hour if I have the time. I wake up at 5 am every day and I work from home and have the luxury to nap though. Sometimes, when I’m having a bad day, I’ll remind myself that I work from home and get to have a long nap every day so I should be grateful.
photo credit: Alexei Hay for Redbook and Instagram/Alison Sweeney
I grew up with soaps in the 80s, too, but I was ABC all the way. I do like her, though, and I agree with the catnap thing. On the rare occasions I do get to nap, I’ve found that if I sleep a little too long it backfires on me and makes me groggy.
She was actually a guest on the Undisclosed podcast last year so she definitely is open to the the reality of police misconduct. Most spouses or relatives of cops I know won’t acknowledge even the possibility that police do wrong. So kudos to her. As a old school Days fan I’ll always love to hate Sami!!!
As for catnaps if I take one I’m comatose for the rest of the day.
I like her too, she just seems to be fairly realistic for an actress, but man I hated her as Sami on Days….guilty as charged on soaps (I too watched them as a teen and in college) and the Hallmark channel, weren’t all the cheesy Christmas movies great?!
Yes I love the cheesy Christmas movies!
The Hallmark Hall of Fame version of The Secret Garden was amazing though. People pay ridiculous money for old VHS copies. I know I would LOVE if they re-released it on blu-ray.
On catnaps, I don’t think that’s true for everyone. I can take a 15 minute nap or a 3 hour nap and I’ll still wake up feeling like shit. I feel groggy and heavy whenever I sleep during the day.
Yes! I hate naps because I always feel terrible when I wake up. Why is that?
I hate day sleeping. Always have. If I slept for twenty minutes, I’d wake up in a fog and feel worse. For the record, not that it matters, I didn’t know soap operas were still on. Who watches? Can’t imagine anyone recording a soap………seems like an 80’s thing to me, but what do I know.
Naps are the worst! I can never fall asleep anyway. In the early 00’s I used to babysit for a family who recorded soaps. Isn’t everything on demand now days?
She’s right…20 minute catnaps work better for me…anything longer and I am grumpy for the rest of the day.
I use to take what I called 20 minute power naps (still do at times). If I did more than 20 minutes though, I screwed the pooch and was more lethargic afterwards. But after 20 minutes was ready to go. The amount of time is different for everyone though.
Awe, she seems genuine, I like her! I remember watching her on soaps back in the day, and I love that she’s not a size 0 and looks healthy, she’s a natural beauty. And I love a good nap, 20 minutes usually isn’t enough for me though, I wake up discombobulated as hell and it sticks with me the rest of the day. I need at least an hour! I also fly a lot during my nap dreams, I can control those dreams better than nighttime. I read an article about how people used to do two sleeps, which makes sense when we worked outside all day, go to sleep when the sun goes down and wake up for a few hours in the middle of the night, then back down until dawn, found that interesting. Said people who suffer from insomnia may still be on that sleep cycle. But I do see tons of people on my Facebook constantly talking about how they can’t sleep, when 3 hours earlier they were checked into Starbucks or taking pics of their Mountain Dew/Red Bull pictures….hello.
#PippaTips
IIRC there is scientific backing for the 20 minute nap claim. I remember learning about it when studying sleep cycles.
How on earth can people nap for 20 minutes. It takes me that long to fall asleep. If I don’t nap for at least an hour, I wake up extremely cranky. Of course I can only nap on weekends because I work in an office and wouldn’t be able to sleep properly if I did when I got home.
I grew up on days because of my grandma and mom. My mom still records the show.
I agree about 20 minute naps. How exactly do you time the 20 minutes? I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep if I only had 20 minutes. Sounds too stressful to me.
I could do it as I fall asleep quickly and for some reason at one point in time my body was attuned to sleeping only 20 minutes. Just like my body would wake up at the same time every morning before my alarm went off. But that’s me and not everyone can do that. I also can sleep almost anywhere. Fell asleep at my daughter’s orthodentist appt one afternoon.
I’m exhausted all day,but if I take a nap during the day, there’s no way I’ll fall asleep at night
I love her and i enjoy her Hallmark mystery tv serie, it is less corny than the standard hallmark tv movie. I watched her soap above all for her and she had great chemistry with her love interests on it (particularly the handsome british Ej), i stopped watching when she left. Now i would like to see her in a sitcom or an edgier netflix, cable prime tv show, she is too good for corny daytime soaps. ps: i am no fan of cops in general but she is right there is good and bad in every profession.. It is just when there are so many exemples of cops using abuse of power it is so hard to not be biased against this profession..The 20 minutes nap is scientifically legit, it allow to be more focused and efficient.