Dear Valentina,

As you turn three years old, I wanted to share a few thoughts on motherhood with you, for one day you, too, will face a crossroads. Lead with your sweet heart.

Love, Mommy

“But I’m miserable,” the supermom fired back at me. Her response made me cringe, a death knell to my dreams. I had just congratulated the high-profile television personality I had admired (and who shall remain nameless) for having both a successful career and a family with four children. I had no idea “having it all” was making her that unhappy. And that’s when I promised myself I was never going to be her. If “having it all” meant being miserable, I didn’t want to have anything to do with “it.”