Honey, our lives will be a whole lot easier if you stop thinking that the sky is falling every time that we have a minor disagreement.

We are a family living together through all the trials of everyday life. This is not a walk in the park, and everybody is not going to be cheery all the time. I may not be working at a paying job any more, but I've still got plenty of stress all day long and I've never been particularly perky.

Our children are chaos, but they are wonderful. We should enjoy them at this tender young stage in their lives. They are going to grow up and have school, homework and all kinds of sobering influences on them soon enough. Right now they have only the exuberance of childhood, so let's allow them to live that.

You are not failing if we have disagreements. As always, we just need to keep talking and get on with life. The rest tends to fall into place. We love and respect each other and our children. That is the base for everything else.

We don't have perfect lives, but we do have good lives. So be happy and thankful for everything we do have. I am. And I'll be with you through it all.