It's hard to believe that we've been watching actress Marla Sokoloff on our screens for almost 30 years. Most folks likely know her as Gia, Stephanie Tanner's best friend on Full House and its reboot Fuller House. Over the years, she has been on TV shows such as The Practice and a string of TV movies, most recently Lifetime's The Road Home For Christmas. She's also become a mom to two daughters, Elliotte and Olive. And now, she has something new to add to her impressive resume, director. This year, Sokoloff is directing her first TV movie, Lifetime's Christmas Hotel. Moms.com got to chat with Marla on the phone about directing, mom life, and what's next.

Christmas Hotel, starring Tatyana Ali and Sean Patrick Thomas is the story of Erin, a successful woman who works for a fancy hotel chain. She finds herself heading back to her small hometown to open a new luxury hotel, which does not go over well. In trying to get the town on her side, she reconnects with her childhood crush.

Directing her first movie was exciting, but of course, she was nervous for a whole bunch of reasons. "Not only was I directing, I was out of the state directing. That was a pretty big undertaking because it's never easy to leave your family behind for work," she says. "When you're doing something for the first time, it's a stressful situation just trusting yourself and getting others to trust you," she explains. "And thinking about your kids the entire time. So I set up my family and myself for success."

Leaving her family behind was hard, but she was confident in her plans. "I had this calendar where every hot lunch was set up, every playdate, every after school enrichment. Carpool, activities, I did not have one day where they weren't doing something." For her, being able to plan everything in advance gave her the confidence she needed for work. "When I got there and I was on set, I never had to quickly text a girlfriend or text my husband to figure out how someone was getting home [her girls go to different schools.]"

With there being a few years age difference between her girls, it takes teamwork to make sure they're both having their needs met. "I drop off one, and my husband drops off the other," she says. "My little one does circle time at her preschool. It's her last year, so I really like to be there to experience that with her and be there for her. I was there with my older daughter every single morning."

"As far as my children, the hard work happened before I left. When I got on set I didn't have to worry about their day-to-day. Of course I worried about them, but I knew that the day-to-day had to be set up in order for me to do my job at work."

But even though she had everything meticulously planned, there was one thing in the back of her mind. "Every single day I prayed that no one would get sick. That's when you need your mom," she explains. "My husband and nanny are incredible, but I knew no one could step into my place if they got sick. We all want our moms when we get sick," she said, adding that even as an adult, she still wants her mom when she's sick. And she's absolutely right.

Christmas Hotel may have been Sokoloff's first time working behind the camera, but it certainly won't be her last. "It was such an incredible experience. Every day I woke up so excited to get in to work. It felt like such a natural progression," she says. When asked how she knew she was ready to take on such a project, she obviously did her homework, but ultimately, "The preparation has been my three decades as an actor," she says.

Her opportunity to direct more may be just around the corner. "I directed a short called 'Preschool in LA.' It's a satire on parenting in this day and age and how ridiculous we all are," she explains. "For example, one of the bits talks about how ridiculous kid's names are. My kids are named Elliotte and Olive, so I'm definitely pointing the finger at myself." Currently, the show is being developed into a short form webseries. If everything goes the way she wants, Sokoloff will direct all the episodes of the webseries.

With 'Preschool in LA,' she got a taste of how universal parenting is. Sometimes we think that our parenting experiences are happening in a bubble. "When the short came out, I got emails saying it's not just an LA thing, this happens all over the country. That makes me feel better."

Since the short and the webseries will lift the veil on the more ridiculous parts of parenting, we had to know why Sokoloff chose to go in that direction. "I'm such an over sharer, but that's a good thing," she says, adding "I'll tell anybody my story."

For her, being so open with herself and her experiences leads to more genuine connections. "I remember when my older daughter was little, I was complaining to a mom friend about my daughter's tantrums, and the mom looked me dead in the eye and was like, "No, my daughter doesn't have tantrums." The girls were tw0-and-a-half, no way she doesn't have tantrums! I knew this is not a mom I could be friends with."

Marla Sokoloff is without a doubt, the kind of mom you want to be friends with. She's hilarious and feels the same kind of mom guilt we all do when we have to be away from our families.

Christmas Hotel is airing now on Lifetime, check your local listings for air times over the holiday week.

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