DEBORAH COPAKEN KOGAN

Running off in a few hours to catch a train to visit my mother and spend some much-needed downtime with my family, but wanted to post the Today Show segment here for those of my friends and family who slept in this morning. Hi, friends. Hi, family. Hi, other strangers reading this (and thanks for your visit. I'd offer you lemonade, but like I said, there's a train to catch.) I'll see you all after Labor Day.

Oh, wait. One more thing before I go. I should make this very clear: my book, despite the way it's presented in this segment, is not a how-to parenting book. In fact, far be it from me to tell you how to parent. (14 years later, I'm still learning myself.) Rather, it's a bunch of comic essays, or as my publisher likes to put it, think Erma Bombeck on a Vespa. Which is a line I should have used on air, had I been thinking more clearly. At least I didn't pull a Cindy Brady. I wonder how many people are old enough to get that reference?

Oy, the train, the train! Bye!