We were running behind like always. One birthday party down and a second to go. We were double booked I admit it. I rushed the kids home. They got their bathing suits on. They got their goggles.

When you marry or re-marry a little "later in life" there are lots of obvious things to consider, but vacations are an integral part of family life and need to be planned and agreed upon in order to help create a happy and successful life together.

Like a drunk person crashing at your house, a baby may need to be carried inside; paw at your breasts, with or without other people present; and insist on telling long, incomprehensible stories.

After ten months, three days and an extremely difficult labor and aftermath, my little girl arrived, making each obstacle and every pain worth it. For her, I'd do it all again. In a heartbeat.

By remembering what it was like to be a child, she just never seemed to age. My nana made me realize that we are not just parenting our children, we are raising future parents, and the example that we set in the way that we live and parent today will have a lasting impact on future generations.

Doing something about climate change is not going to help the people whose lives are already upended by tornadoes -- or floods, hurricanes and droughts. But no parent can simply throw up her hands and ignore the trouble we are racing right into.

Every now and then, the girls have actual conversations while we're cruising down the road, my favorite among them being "What are you going to be when you grow up?"

We are passing our bad habits down to our kids. They see us spend but not save, pay bills or give to charity. You have to get your child involved in all of it. The only way to get money is to earn it. Make sure your handling of money is visible and simple for them to understand.

America, as a country, would be wise to implement languages in the curriculum as early as Pre-K in public schools.