I never thought  I would ever be quoting anything President George W. Bush said, but thanks to Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) and his newest insane and racist bill, I have no choice--I feel compelled to quote the former Republican president:

"The diversity of America has always been a great strength of this country. Here you can be proud of your cultural heritage, proud of your ancestry, proud of your native language, and still be a proud American."

So let me begin this by saying, Rep. King, the fact that you have no shame in publicly declaring that "diversity has never been America's strong suit" makes me not only doubt your position in office, but also your sanity. Are you sure you're an American? Or is it that Iowa is completely blindfolded to the rest of your great country?

The other day, my husband and I were having dinner with a group of friends and suddenly the conversation shifted from very humorous to very dark.

One of the women said that she was certain that her husband (who was sitting right next to her) was going to die before her and that she had made plans with other women-friends (who are also certain they will become widows first) to buy a big house in Acapulco, live together, wear kaftans with lots of jewelry, have endless talks during poker games while drinking champagne at night.

I couldn't help but stutter: "Really?! Is that your dream for your old age?"

It takes a lot of effort on our part as parents not to succumb into the abyss of the Disney Channel or Nickelodeon when we want our kids off our backs for half an hour.

I have a rule that no television is allowed during daytime hours, but there are weekend mornings when my kids wake up at 6 a.m. and I simply can't move. So instead, I give in, let the kids watch some TV, and head back to bed. Most days, though, I feel so guilty after 20 minutes, I simply decide, to hell with it all--let's just head outside. My friends call me crazy because they can often find me at the diner with my offspring before 8 a.m. on weekends. Immediately after, I head to the park. And guess what? It does beat seeing my kids go numb in front of the TV while the sun shines beautifully outside. But so many of us still give in to making the television set a replacement for strong parenting.

¿Cuántas de ustedes sufren por tener maridos que pasan ratos larguísimos con los videojuegos o en el internet? Hoy en día, las parejas más jóvenes son las que más sufren por esta causa. En mi trabajo anterior, conocí a varias mujeres con maridos obsesionados con la tecnología, quienes muchas veces se acostaban a dormir -- hasta altas horas de la madrugada -- buscando pasar al siguiente nivel.

Y ellos siempre se defendían así: "Pero mi amor, ¿a ti por qué te molesta que yo me desvele jugando si tú ya estás dormida?"  Pero bueno, ¿qué pasó con el sexo y qué pasó con aquello de dormir juntos en la cama y a la misma hora?