My good friend, Renu, recently wrote a book with her children. She talks about the whole experience in this guest blog. Check it out!

Have you ever felt stuck as a working mom? That something was missing?  I know I am really good at my job and a pretty good mom, but somehow, it wasn’t enough.

I was down and frustrated.

So one day about a year ago, while I was venting to a friend at work, I mentioned among all my goings on, that I had this book project that I had started with my kids a few years ago, and I wasn’t sure if we would ever get it done. They were getting older and losing interest. She pointed out how I lit up when I talked about it, and how I should not let it die.

My hold up? Not having an illustrator. She said, “You need an illustrator? These are my people! Leave it to me.” She posted an ad on a website I had never heard of, and in a week I had 17 responses. She spurred me to get on it. I found an amazing illustrator and well, see below.

We created the characters Fred and Fiona (twin, friendly fuzzy blue monsters), and made up stories about them a few years ago while I was falling asleep while reading bedtime stories to my then 4 and 8 year old daughters. It was a way to keep me awake. Because let’s face it, we all run ragged, and I was tired!

We taped a story on my phone each night. Eventually, we decided it would be a cool project for us to publish one of the stories, and so now finally, thanks to my friend pushing me, it has come to fruition!

We are very excited about the project and more so because we are donating a portion of any profits we should be so fortunate to make to the amazing Jennifer Bush-Lawson Foundation, due to our fondness for the Lawson family and the great work their foundation does.

Jenn was a mom at my kids’ elementary school, and was killed in a tragic accident in front of our school. It was awful. She left behind 3 kids under the age of 6, and an amazing husband, Neal, my daughter’s first soccer coach.

The nonprofit Neal founded in her memory helps, well, other moms. They serve economically vulnerable mothers and infants by giving them a fair start at life through access to quality pre and postnatal healthcare and support. Please see jb-lf.org.

Fred and Fiona: Fuzzy Blue Monsters with Finicky Fur is a silly story, with throwback humor, geared to preschoolers to about age 7.  It is currently available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble etc. on line (that is, you won’t see it in bookstores) but if we get sales high enough, that would be the next goal. Please like our Facebook page, the links to purchase are there:

https://www.facebook.com/FuzzyBlueMonsters/

We’ve gotten pretty good feedback from friends/family, but hey they’re biased, so if you happen to purchase a copy, we really need reviews! The key to max exposure is 25 reviews and we have 15 so far- help us reach our goal!

So my take home for you is this- having a career may be part of who are, but don’t let it be ALL of who you are. Be YOU. Pursue outside interests- don’t let your job define you totally. Be with your kids. DO things with them. If you get lost in your career, you may lose yourself in the process.

I love writing, whether it is long blog posts or kids’ stories, and doing this project with my kids is one of the coolest things I have ever done. They will never forget how amazing it was to publish a book with their mom, the work it took, the appreciation they have gotten for it, the kids they made laugh, and the cause they helped. And neither will I.