You Work Hard For What

My Role Models Were The People In My Life. My Mom, For Sure. My Dad. The Teachers. For Me, Role-modeling Was Immediate, It Was Touchable. It Was Rare For Me To Idolize A Movie Star Or A Singer...because, Truly, Children Connect With Who Is In Their Lives, Present And Accounted For.

Clearly This Is A Tough Economic Time, And A Lot Of Families Are Hurting. So When We Talk To Parents, We Talk About Small Changes For Kids And Things That Don't Cost Extra Money. Like Adding Water And Eliminating Sugary Drinks And Sodas. That's Going To Save Money Right There. Or Adding A Few More Vegetables.

I Was An Incredibly Devoted Student, And I Would Often Wake Up At 4 Or 5 In The Morning To Study. But Even So, There Were Still People Who Thought That A Girl Like Me With A Background Like Mine Wasn't Really "college Material."

We Learned About Dignity And Decency - That How Hard You Work Matters More Than How Much You Make... That Helping Others Means More Than Just Getting Ahead Yourself.

Sometimes, It's Just Easier To Say Yes To That Extra Snack Or Dessert, Because Frankly, It Is Exhausting To Keep Saying No. It's Exhausting To Plead With Our Kids To Eat Just One More Bite Of Vegetables.