I always hated perfect TV moms because I always thought that was unrealistic.

They see me as being this Super Mom on TV who also can more than handle a difficult husband, and they assume I'm going to be just full of wisdom as a mother and wife myself.

I don't understand that, because I think that what people like most about the show is that they recognize themselves in the characters and their problems, so the more believable the family is, the more we can draw the audience in.

It was extremely hard going from being a parent of one to a parent of three, because now all these instant decisions have to be made about how you balance out the time and attention between them.

I had been a real problem child, but once I got into acting, my parents never had any more trouble with me because all of that energy was directed in a positive way.

Tim on the show does a lot of that posturing, of course, and feels sort of threatened by women. But even at that, you do see him cooking, and ultimately he's a good father because he spends a lot of time with the boys.