Children are taught the expression "it's not fair" in the womb, shortly after they're told how to suck their thumbs and how to walk into the rearview mirror of every car in the parking lot. While they don't have speech until their second or third year, that crying you hear? They're saying, "Mommy, IT'S NOT FAIR!"

"I got in a fight with a girl today," my five-year-old daughter announced after her first morning of day camp."Really?" I said, surprised. "What was it about?""Well, she said everyone had to listen to her and do what she said. But I said they didn't. And she was mad.""Oh," I said, secretly pleased. "Well, did you two not get along after that?""Oh no," she said. "We got out of the fight later and played."

Without a doubt, this parenting gig is hard. One of the better quotes I've ever heard uttered about parenting is in the movie "Terms of Endearment" (1983) when Emma (played by Debra Winger) explains to her husband just how difficult parenting alone will be for him. She says, "As hard as you think it is, you end up wishing it were that easy" and it's the most poignant and honest assessment of parenting as I think I've ever heard.

We've got a brief family vacation coming up next week and I have a little secret for you...I'm not looking forward to it.We'll be headed to an amusement park in Santa Claus, Indiana and staying in a hotel room that's actually an RV. In an RV park. Yes, in Santa Claus, they have RV hotel rooms. Because that is how they roll.Honestly, this sort of thing is so crazy, it would generally be right up my alley.Add a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old to the mix, though, and it's so not up my alley. In fact, it's basically a nightmare.

Summer is right around the corner and that means many blogging moms are gearing up for a vacation or two with the family.

If you have teenagers, you know that blogging about them can be all but impossible. 

Not all that long ago, I wrote what I thought was a poignant, sensitively-written blog post about my teenage stepdaughters.They had gotten in trouble, but not much trouble. They had acted up, but in a way that would make nearly every mom out there chuckle, shake her head, and remember her own days of teen mischief. I wrote about the incident because I thought my girls wouldn't mind. I thought they'd see it the same way I did, as a learning experience with which everyone could identify.They didn't.

Over the last few episodes of BackTalk we've gotten a lot of excellent feedback from everyone about being featured or what blogs they're currently reading or what shows people like to see in the future. We've been working hard on our next shows and have a lot of great bloggers to feature. It's so nice to see some of you upload those videos that we use on BackTalk!

This week's Backtalk covers a subject almost all of us have blogged about more than a few times:  Body image.

When I was taking care of three Ferrier kids (my two stepdaughters and my own daughter), no one batted an eyelash. But once I was pregnant with our fourth, the comments started coming fast and furious."Is this your last one?!" people would ask. Or, "Trying for a boy?" Or my own personal favorite, "Does your daughter and the one you're pregnant with have the same daddy?" When my son was born, I can't count the number of times I heard, "Well, your husband finally got that boy. I guess you're done now!"

This week's Backtalk is all about women who've taken their blogs and used them to achieve their dreams. Some have gotten book deals. Some have launched businesses selling artwork or jewelry. Some have used their blogs to transition from one career to another.

 Our most recent Backtalk was on the subject of divorce and blended families. As you know if you've read any blogs on the matter, real-life blended families often provide subject matter that could never be shown on "The Brady Bunch." A few bloggers immediately spring to mind when I think of divorce and blended families.