I have never made a cupcake in the shape of a bunny, and I think the world should know it.

I will never reupholster a chair using recycled grocery bags or craft adorable Halloween treats out of licorice and candied violets. I have never been to a PTA meeting. Once I told my son I'd have lunch with him at school -- and forgot to go.

Sally Owen, who lives in North Carolina, holds down a fulltime job and also manages a household that...read more

I have surfed the web at work, looking for tips to get children to do chores, and I have ignored screams and crashing at home because I was on a business call.

Three cleaning ladies have quit on us -- because our house was too dirty.

Once, I gave my children pizza crusts for dinner. Not pizza, just crusts. I myself had beer.

These confessions might sound extreme, but they're not. I know this because most of my friends are like me. This insight I owe to what I call "the Havarti cheese epiphany." This happened one day when I went to my friend Sue's house. Sue has three sons, is a talented artist and a lovely person who lives in a house in the woods. I was feeling very envious and inadequate in her presence until I went to the bathroom and saw, on the back of the toilet, a greasy, empty wrapper from a package of Havarti cheese. I almost cried. Because it was just the kind of thing you might find on the back of the toilet at my house. That, or a plastic dinosaur or half a peanut butter sandwich.

I know there are millions of women like me. Millions of women in this country (and probably others) who find that the daily demands of running a household, raising kids and holding down a job are simply kicking their ass.

So I hope that this blog will provide a Havarti cheese moment for every mom who reads it. At some point, in reading about my life, they'll say, "Hey, I have a bunch of dead animals in my freezer, too." Or, "Thank God I'm not the only one who hates to play with my children." I offer no guidance or advice; I promise that all events described herein are true, although I do reserve the right to exaggerate.

And, if not, dear reader, feel free to sneer, secure in the knowledge that all the cheese in your house is safe in the designated drawer of your refrigerator, as you recall with contempt how you built an entire pirate ship out of paper towel rolls for your child's last birthday.

But the rest of you -- read on. ...read more blogs