How many pity parties have you had in the last week?  The last month?  By my count I’m up to about two full on “poor me” moments and about a half-dozen or so micro-moments.  Because it is hard!  No matter how funny and rewarding trying to raise a family and a maintain a career can be (yes, snot and dirty child sized hand prints on your new Anne Taylor suit are HILARIOUS) we still struggle.  We get down in the dumps.  We think to ourselves sometimes (gasp) ”what is the point?”

Last week I dropped off my 14 year old daughter at overnight camp.  That means three weeks without hearing the thump-thump-thump of her sleepy footsteps coming downstairs in the morning, and without a bathroom counter strewn with hair products, left open, empty, or both.  It means fewer dishes in the sink, less food in the fridge, more quiet around the house.

Yesterday the inmates ran the prison and it was insanely fantastic.  July 4th falling on a Wednesday created the perfect storm for our family.  Most of the 4th was spent knocking out housework typically reserved for the weekend which meant that there wasn’t much in the way of cleaning to be done come Saturday.  On top of that because it is a holiday weekend and about 150 degrees in Phoenix no one was in town.  This translated into no games, practices, play dates, family visits, birthday parties, or chores.  Nada.

In the car on my way to drop my sons at camp I heard on NPR that a critical portion of DOMA had been struck down.

Planning a birthday party for a loved one? Stew Leonard’s in Newington, Connecticut makes the planning process extremely easy, and offers a wide variety of options both in the store and for catering off the premises. We recently held our daughter’s third birthday, and first ever kid-party in the store’s smaller party-room. Since she is only three, the vibrantly decorated room easily accommodated her small number of close friends and her beloved teenage sitter. Cooking parties and other events for children over five and adults are held in a larger room.

I finally took the opportunity to volunteer in my daughter’s first grade class. It just happened to be the last day of school. Is it horrible to admit that I had deliberately not used my vacation or comp days to serve in Lexi’s classroom? If it is, then at least I have another 11 years to remedy the situation. My husband is a regular volunteer in the class, and I was excited about having my turn…until he came home from volunteering and told me that the teacher planned on working me hard during my allotted time.

Mama said there'd be days like these - or in my case a month.  Really, do I deserve a pity party any more than the next working  mom?  I mean is my crazy month all that special - two trips away from home (one business one for fun to be fair), end of school year scheduling adjustments, sick dog, unexpected health blip (nothing crazy that a little extra thyroid meds won't fix), and death of a friend all packed on top of the usual hectic work week and family and social commitments.  That's just life, right?

One of the most beloved Disney Pixar Movies, Monsters Inc., follows up after more than 10 years, with monsters Mike Wazowski and James (Sully) Sullivan, in the pre-quel “Monsters University”. I recently attended the Monsters University press junket at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, where Goodman and Crystal got to talk about