Just returned from the cast and crew screening of the Marvel Movie, Iron Man on the Paramount Lot. It was (to coin an 80’s adjective) totally awesome! Seriously. And not just because my husband (Russell Bobbitt) worked on it for a year. The cast, Robert Downey Jr., Terrance Howard, Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow and Leslie Bibb, was stellar. It’s bizarre watching Academy Award Winners in a comic book movie but they lent believability and edginess to the overall vibe.

So what in the world does this film have to do with my blog topics? Well, on the topic of balance and fulfilling business responsibilities it was a low scoring day. It’s hard to make headway when your heading home at 2:30 in the afternoon.

On the other hand, in the motherhood arena I scored a home run because we took the little one with us to the screening. Marriage category – scored there too with just a little hubby admiration and cheerfully agreeing to dinner in Larchmont Village after the show. Simple stuff.

Now on to the topic of the blog that focuses on my kids career. As I was watching the film I couldn’t help but focus on the kids in the cast – they’re weren’t many and their parts were all pretty brief. Glorified extras actually. My husband mentioned during filming of Iron Man that a part was coming up that was possibly a good fit for our daughter, Jordan. In the end it turned out to be sort of an emotional scene, with gunfire, squid blasts, shouting, dust, etc. Not the ideal set for a young first timer. He changed his mind, I agreed and Jordan was none the wiser. Was it the right choice? I don’t know, but I think so.

The good news is, Jordan makes it into the film anyhow. In the final scene, Robert Downey Jr. is reading a newspaper while Pepper Potts (G.Paltrow) dabs his face with make-up. If you look quickly & closely at the newspaper, and I mean QUICKLY & CLOSELY, you’ll see my kids smiling face. As we watched the scene with the paper she lit up. Her father and I missed it completely until she reminded us later that her photo was in the scene. It’s poetic actually, I’m concerned that she’s not in the movie and as far as she’s concerned, she is in the movie.

Score 1 for motherhood and marriage.