Barb Valentin

Barb Valentin is a Chicago-based freelance writer and
humorist who spent the whole of her thirties pregnant and has five boys (and
lots of material) to show for it. Her column The Plate Spinner Chronicles has appeared
in the Chicago Tribune since 2008 and snagged her a runner-up spot in the 2012
Erma Bombeck Humor Contest. Barb writes for mom.Me, and has contributed to the
Orlando Sentinel, the Baltimore Sun, and the LA Times, among other Tribune
Media publications. Between all of this and working a full-time day job, she still
finds time to ramble at her award-winning blog, Platespinning 101.

What was your favorite toy as a child?

My rollerskates because they weren’t
hand-me-downs and, when I had them on, I could fly like the wind