That's a big deal for kids when they come into the kitchen and the teacher is drinking coffee with mom. They react differently on the next day when you say: 'Sit down and shut-up!'

My mom once lost track of me at the zoo and when she found me I was lecturing a man about the difference between dromedary and Bactrian camels. I was about 3 1/2.

There are lots of different ways for women to be a mom in this culture.

I can't remember a time when my mom didn't work. She has forever been on the move: a go-getter. When my brother Adel and I had a paper route as kids my mom would get up before us at the crack of dawn to drop off the Washington Post at different corners.

I am a single mom and I'm the breadwinner and I have to work and I have to do these things and that's just the way it is. I don't think my son even knows any different.

The fact that I'm very close with my past relationships is something I pride myself on. My mom is still close to her first husband. It's nice to be able to enjoy someone in a different form.

My mom listened to the Beatles and Elvis a lot of different types of music.

My mom has always said that the one thing she wishes she had done differently is have a job. She felt like the single-mindedness made her a little nuts sometimes and she could have used an outlet for herself when we were little.

Being a singer is all about me. About ego. Being a mom is all about being selfless - two different worlds.

I love those hockey moms. You know what they say the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull is? Lipstick.