There was tremendous excitement about the release of the movie Brave. It is Pixar's first movie with a female lead (two female leads, in fact). It was hoped that Merida of Brave would prove to be Disney/Pixar's anti-princess; a girl who is brave and defines herself by actions OTHER than getting the Prince.

And she is. Kind of. 

In a few short hours my three kids will be out on summer break and I will be their chauffeur, camp counsellor, teacher, computer tech, playmate and cook.

I may also be a little teary on the schoolyard - a potent mixture of anxiety, sadness and fear of the long days ahead.

Don't get me wrong, I love my kids. I like hanging out with them. And there are parts of summer that I enjoy like being released from the dreary routine of packing lunches, school drop-offs and stress.

There was a mom complaining in the schoolyard that her kids weren't invited to a relative's wedding. The funny thing is that a few days before, a friend was complaining because her kids were invited and she didn't want to bring them.

As all brides know, you can't win (a good lesson for parenting).

But the issue of kids at a wedding can be a minefield for the bride and for the parents of said kids.

Yesterday, Scouts Canada referred 65 cases to the police for review at the same time admitting that they may not have been as diligent as they should have been when it came to following up on suspicions of sex abuse. 

The official review decided there was no cover-up, just a series of tiny head turns and feigning ignorance that can lead to disastrous results.

Last week, Jerry Sandusky in Philadelphia was found guilty of abusing 10 boys under his athletic directorship. 

The inflammatory headline says it all: "Why Women Still Can't Have It All". The author, noted academic Anne-Marie Slaughter, says it's time to stop fooling ourselves.

But instead of an anti-feminist screed, this article is a call to arms to change how we view work, family and gender roles in general. Because currently, women can't have it all. If they know what "all" is.

Break out the bubbly! It's okay to drink lightly during pregnancy, says a new study, sending waves of relief through many surprise pregnancies.

This is of course not license to drink heavily -- as science has yet to report how much alcohol can harm your unborn baby. The study followed over 1,600 Danish women who self-reported how much liquour they consumed and then followed them again a few years later to see how their kids turned out. As long as they had less than nine drinks a week their kids turned out fine, says the study.

I have very few memories of my grad ceremonies, and I certainly have no memory of the speeches. I remember the long skirt I wore with the paisley on it in grade 8, but for some reason my high school graduation is blank, even though I'm sure I was there.

But if I had been sitting in those uncomfortable chairs, sweating in the polyester gowns like the students at Wellsleey High, I would remember.

You may have seen David McCullough's speech already, it has gone "viral", raking in over 1 million views and has been discussed in many forms of media.

Two summers ago our kids loved singing Katy Perry's California Gurls (against my better judgement). They would yell at the top of their lungs: "bikinis on top!" During this period, we were in New York eating at a deli and my son pointed to a large wall mural of matzoh balls nestled in a spoon and yelled: "Look! Bikinis!" (They did kind of look like - umm... bikinis, for lack of a better word.)

From that day forward, matzoh balls have taken on a double meaning in our family. But I should have paid more attention to Katy Perry and known that cupcakes were actually the bikini-fillers for kids.

Parents of kids with ADHD are in a tough situation and I don't mean their parenting issues. It seems that no matter what route they choose to deal with their kids, they will be blamed by the public and the media.

An op-ed in the New York Times a few months ago implied that bad parenting is at the root of ADHD. The truth is there is plenty of bad parenting out there, but ADHD is about how the brain is wired - not whether a parents didn't set limits. 

Martha Payne in western Scotland was not thrilled with her hot lunch program, but instead of whining about it, she started documenting it on a blog by taking a daily photo and recounting the details mouthful by mouthful.

Never Seconds is her simple but addicting blog. It showcases a young student's thrill and disappointment with her lunch and is also a window into a 9-year-old's daily life at school such as: her clarinet recital, phys-ed, and her acceptance of the bureaucracy of school (albeit a very smart, open and articulate 9-year-old).