How do I teach my children about all the violence in the world?

In the wake of 19 mentally disabled people stabbed to death and some 20 others wounded in Japan, the Orlando shooting, the killing of YouTube star Christina Grimmie, I could go on and on...I sit here wondering what should I tell my girls about violence in the world? 

This latest mass shooting has hit too close to home. It pains me that someone would specifically target this group of individuals. I understand there's mental illness all around us who go about life without medication, and this angers me, that loved ones have to suffer because these individuals don't have someone to hold them accountable. This particular killer had just been released from a mental hospital after an evaluation. 

How do I teach my children that they are not safe in school, in theatres, in shopping centers, and even in church? 

How do I tell them to protect themselves from evil when even I don't know who to protect myself from? 

How do I bring them up teaching them about love and peace when our world is falling apart? 

I not only have to worry about all those other things like bullies or mean girls, I also have to worry about people going into a place where our loved ones call home, their safe haven, with guns and killing everyone in sight. 

How do we even begin to fix this world? How do we talk to our children and how do we raise them to be valuable citizens? 

My heart aches for all those families who have lost their loved ones to senseless acts of violence. For what? What did they accomplish except pain, hurt and bloodshed. 

How do we become a happy world? How do we strive for positivity, love and light? Why is there so much hate? 

Those days are gone when we were all shocked and shaken by these acts of violence. Now it's sort of become the new norm, it seems like we can't go a few weeks without seeing some kind of hate crime. 

So who is responsible here? I challenge you to stand up and have the uncomfortable conversations. If you see someone post something on social media, report it, talk to them, let's try to do our part, let's change this world for our children, let us at least try! 

Today I will tell my daughters to continue to pray for peace, to keep their love for this world, to continue to strive to change the world for the better, to continue to teach others about love and laughter and maybe, just maybe this world will become a better, safer, and more loving place. 

I love you MORE

It started off as a precious little beat as I was growing inside my mother's womb.

A tiny being loved eternally already by the one who carried me. 

It beat faster as I met my mother's eyes when I was born into the colorful country of Mexico. My heart grew bigger as I met my dad, my older brother and sister, who's hearts were even more filled with love for me. 

I wonder if a heart is like a piggy bank, as love enters does it beat faster, like a bank being filled would be worth more. Does it grow inch by inch as more love is deposited? 

I always truly believed that I loved mom more. As time passed and we would battle the love game telling each other who loved who more, I assumed I'd won each time. 

And so I began to understand a mother's love when I carried my baby girls for nine months, as they grew and moved, as I checked in through ultrasounds and heartbeat sounds. 

My heart expanded to the point where I was sure it would explode as I became a mom to two sweet little ladies six years apart. 

I learned how to be a mom with my first baby girl, we were as one from the start. From play, to dance, to learning, to falling and getting up again, to rocking and reading, to kisses and hugs, to forever afters.

And as she grew and began to ask for a sister, well daddy and I began the process of making wishes come true. After all, we do everything for our little ones. We were ready! We waited and prayed, hoped and wished. 

One sweet day after many tests, fetal echocardiograms and a diagnosis of atrioventricular septal defect and Down syndrome, all of our wishes came true.

My heart was full. Truly, deeply, fulfilled with a love only a parent could understand. 

My oldest baby girl and I began this great love battle years ago, as she began to speak and express her feelings. I love how my daughter thinks she loves me more and though I know she wholeheartedly believes it, baby girl, mama will always love you more!