“Momfluencer” aesthetics are elemental to the Instagram ecosystem — pics of cherubic babies and family visits to the pumpkin patch are staples on any given IG explore page.
The thing is: parenting isn’t always pretty. Actually, it’s kind of gross, if everyone’s being honest with themselves — a beautiful journey that comes with a lot of ick.
CTV’s Canadian comedy, Children Ruin Everything, finds hilarity in the ick. The honest, underrated, off-beat show is back for a second season, each episode a feel-good antidote to social media’s glossy depiction of parenthood.
And it’ll make you laugh out loud.
Narcity sat down with Meaghan Rath — the very funny, very cool multi-hyphenate star of Children Ruin Everything — to talk about the parallels between being a mom on set and being one in real life.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Rath, much like her on-screen character Astrid, is as hilarious as she is down to earth.
“She's a side of my personality that's turned up quite a bit,” the actress told Narcity, going on to say that she admires the way the character rolls with the punches of parenthood.
It makes Astrid relatable — and Meaghan’s keen to point out that a lot of this relatability comes down to the writing.
Creator Kurt Smeaton (the brilliant mind behind Canadian faves like Schitt’s Creek and Kim’s Convenience) writes with great “specificity and detail,” as Rath puts it. “It’s why everyone feels so seen by [the show].”
“I love the way [Kurt’s] brain works. I love the way he sees people in relationships — and the world, really,” she continued. “He has a very tender way of looking at things [...] he sees the true absurdity in the things that we do every day.”
The result is whip-smart dialogue and a comically accurate depiction of parenting.
“Even down to the details of [...] they had me in a nursing bra in one episode,” Rath explained. “I'm holding this baby at work and then I go home and I'm holding my own baby. So it all blurs into one.”
The actress (who’s also an executive producer on the series) was pregnant with her first child while filming season one, and during the shoot for season two, her real-life newborn was the same age as her mini-scene partner.
“It was not sleeping, and then coming to work and then not pretending not to sleep at work, and then sleep training the baby on set and sleep training him at home,” she said. “It was oddly mirroring my life.”
Both Astrid and Meaghan find humour in motherhood. “It's always a new challenge,” she laughed, a refreshing admission given the prevailing parenting philosophy angled at perfection. “It seems every time you think you've got something under control, something else comes into the picture and it's difficult again."
Even if you don’t have kids and they haven’t ruined everything, you’ll be able to enjoy the show’s witty banter, Canadian references and endlessly entertaining cast.
This season, existing fans can look forward to a flashback episode that Rath herself is excited for you to watch.
“You get to see everybody before we met them, so like younger versions of ourselves,” she revealed. “And it's so funny, especially if you already know the characters.”
Tune into Children Ruin Everything Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CTV and CTV.ca, or catch up on the first season on Crave or the CTV app.
To learn more about the show, check out CTV.ca or follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.