Is that your mom on stage?

Once a week after tucking their children into bed, Newport Beach neighbors Allyson Sonenshine, Gretchen Fyke Sheppard and Jeneen Graham temporarily leave behind soccer practices, T-ball games and professional careers for two hours of uninhibited rock ‘n’ roll.

The three mothers are co-lead singers of the rock band MILK — an acronym for “Mothers I’d Like to Know” — and will be taking the stage Saturday at the Mamapalooza Rocks the OC festival, joining several other musicians, comedians and miscellaneous “talented moms” to celebrate their passion for the arts.

“A lot of moms don’t have the opportunity to explore their talents once they have children because it’s very challenging to manage this kind of a role with childrearing,” Graham said. “Mamapalooza is great in that it’s a chance for us moms who are involved in the arts to continue to perform.”

Though 36-year-old Sonenshine is plenty busy working as a sales manager and hanging out with her sons — Solomon, 6, and Max, 4 — singing in the band offers “great relief” from everyday pressures, which is why the trio came together shortly after their youngest children were born.

“All three of us really enjoy music and were lamenting the fact that we were only singing nursery rhymes,” she said. “We’re really doing this to have fun, not to be professional musicians, though that would be the gravy.”

Mothers like those of MILK are what inspired Irvine resident Janeane Bernstein to organize the Mamapalooza event, hoping to encourage other mothers and their families to make time to pursue their dreams, just in time for Mother’s Day.

“Moms are the ultimate multi-taskers and to know they are out there making music, juggling work and being moms is amazing,” Bernstein said. “I think people will be inspired by watching the performances, especially the kids coming out to see their own moms.”

But Orange County mothers won’t be the only one’s rocking out this month, with more than 40 Mamapalooza events scheduled throughout the country.

Joy Rose, a mother of four and the lead singer of Housewives on Prozac, hosted the first Mamapalooza concert with nine performers in New York in 2002. Five years later, hundreds of artistic mothers are involved in the organization.

“I realized there were all these mothers wanting to make the planet better, brighter, more noisy and more fabulous and they needed a place to do it and a stage to rock on,” Rose said. “It has really taken off and now I have no time to do anything else.”

All proceeds from Mamapalooza Rocks the OC and similar events will support the recently formed Motherhood Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to nurturing and supporting mothers in the arts, as well as establishing a Museum of Motherhood, slated for a 2011 opening.

In addition to several musical and comedic performances, Saturday’s event will include children’s crafts, jewelry making, food sampling and a raffle, with a Daisy Rock guitar as the grand prize.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Mamapalooza Rocks the OC

WHEN: Noon to 4:30 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: Original Mike’s, 100 S. Main St., Santa Ana

COST: $10 donation, children under 14 are free

INFO: Call Janeane Bernstein at (949) 929-9449. For general information, go to www.mamapalooza.com .