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I really feel like because I had my son so young, I didn't want everyone's help. I think people felt entitled to give advice, so I'm always very sensitive to moms and letting them feel their way out.

As a new mother, you're so vulnerable and make mistakes all the time. I guess there's more pressure when you're in the public eye, but I'd never stand by and let anyone exploit my daughter.

You do have to overcome the child's thinking that this new woman, who is not their mother, is going to be in their lives.

My husband's a pediatrician, so he and I talk about parenting all the time. You can't raise children who have more shame resilience than you do.

What do girls do who haven't any mothers to help them through their troubles?

I have such admiration for single mothers. I simply don't comprehend how you'd cope with that intensity, the lack of breaks, ever, on your own.

My heart and prayers go out to all single moms because it's tough, and I can't imagine any teenager dealing with a baby and all those hormones raging.

It's just kind of empowering when you become a mother. You just get overwhelmed with this new confidence and you feel really in control of your life. It's been beautiful.

I've changed in my sympathies since I've become a mother myself. In high school I went through a period where I was close with my mom and had to break with her in order to find myself and come back. Since that was my experience, that's often what happens in my books.

Having to go through an intervention and family counseling is a wonderful experience. I would almost recommend it to anybody. It opens a lot of communication, and it opens old sores, but once it is opened and hashed out, the rewards are far greater.