Parenting is an incredibly important responsibility and so we wanted to get a conversation going with input from parents in the community. We asked them: what is the most important thing you’ve done as a parent? We’ve highlighted some of the responses below.

devin chambers | retired professional athlete, business owner and father.

I am a new parent I have a 2 year old daughter who is my entire world. As a high level athlete all my life I was groomed to be an elite athlete after playing basketball for the top middle school in the city where I was born and raised, I then moved and played at the number 1 highschool basketball team in the country called oak hill academy. Afterwards I played division 1 basketball in college and moved on to play professional basketball for 10 years. Read more>>

Alyssia Aguilar | Latina Illustration Artist

As a mother my role is to not only lead by example but to truly show my girls how they should be as a woman, wife, parent and believer. I thank my husband for his hand in our parenthood journey and how we both have tried to keep pushing ourselves and showing Emma and Selena that our faith is and will always lead our decisions. In 2017 we gave birth prematurely at 25 weeks and the twins were fighting to survive. At 16 days old our son, Mark Anthony Aguilar II passed away due to sepsis. It was through this most difficult time that we decided to keep going, to not only be there for Emma but still be there for Selena in the NICU. Read more>>

Annie Strever | Photographer

I believe that would be my fearless pursue to find my true self, and to live the most honest life in terms of inner feelings. I was very unfortunate to be born in a Soviet Union where people have had a very tough lives and relationship with their true selfs. To say more there were no true self there, people for almost century were stuck in extremely bad politics. So I was taught to live some absolutely inhuman way. So by now I did a countless hours of therapy and self-development and never give up to get back to me, I always believe that there is a different way to live and enjoy your life, and that thought me that there is only one way to do so – find out who you actually are what makes you – you and what makes you happy and fulfilled. There is no other way to make those around you happy but became happy yourself first. Read more>>