Mom On the Road, a memoir-style novel, chronicles life after 40 for a Scottsdale mom accompanying her son on a traveling theater production

What happens when gravity takes over anatomy and kids start to have a life of their own?

A local mom turns the travails of midlife into witty sarcasm in a debut novel marking the coming-of-age of a 40-something mother and wife who has abandoned her sense of self to focus on her family. The insecurities, stories and mishaps that unfold are the focus of Allyson Ochs Primack’s debut novel, Mom on the Road, inspired by Primack’s own midlife awakenings while she traveled with her eldest son as he made his national acting debut in a touring production of The Addams Family Musical.

“No one really understands the changes women go through, physically or emotionally, until they get there,” says Primack, a Scottsdale mother of three, attorney and wife to the famed weight-loss doc, Craig Primack, M.D.

“I started blogging (www.momontour.com) when I was traveling with my son, and friends from across the country – as well as newfound fans – started commending me on voicing what they’d been thinking. I wanted to take that subject matter and turn it into something longer.”

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About Allyson Primack

Born and raised in suburban Detroit, Primack earned a Bachelor’s Degree from Michigan State University and a Law Degree from Wayne State University. She moved to Phoenix in 1997, where she was a criminal defense attorney at the Maricopa County Public Defender’s Office for 15 years. Primack is married to Dr. Craig Primack, managing partner and owner of Scottsdale Weight Loss Center, LLC; they have three children, Sam (14), Lauren (12) and Aidan (6).

Active in Arizona theater since the age of 4, Sam Primack landed the role of Pugsley Addams in the national tour of The Addams Family Musical when he was 10, requiring family members to travel with him as chaperones, from January of 2013 until July of 2014. Primack bore the brunt of that responsibility, giving her the unique opportunity to reflect on her life and record her thoughts and observations first on her blog and later, in this book.

After the tour, Primack retired from her legal career to launch The Audrey Johnson Theatre Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization named in memory of a beloved Arizona theater patron; the organization provides Arizona children the opportunity to see and participate in live theater.

“It IS possible to be married and a mother and also have fun,” Primack says. “Getting out of my comfort zone opened me up to the possibilities of my life.”

Some key takeaways from the book include these quotes:

-   “At the heart of the Munsters lies two central themes: one is the question of what constitutes ‘normal’…and the second is about facing your fears, and heading toward the unknown.” (Chapter 18)
-   Her favorite city, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, enlightened Primack to some Dr. Seuss wisdom, including the fact that “he didn’t publish anything notable until after he was 40.” (Chapter 25)
-   “I have as much to learn from my kids as they do from me. The simplest things are the most amazing. And the most beautiful things are the ones you did not expect.” (Chapter 25)

Primack is also the author of “You’ll be Swell: What to expect when you expect your child will be a star.” The Primacks are members of Temple Solel in Scottsdale, and Primack was raised at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan.