Without proper health care, children are at risk of being left behind. Missing school because of health-related causes such as hearing or vision impairments, colds, coughs or more severe, yet treatable illnesses, places a tremendous burden on a population that is already struggling to manage during these tough economic times.

In Los Angeles, where about 2.5 million people are uninsured, nearly 240,000 of them are kids. The sad reality is that most of these children qualify for health care plans through Medi-Cal and Healthy Families.  They simply need to be enrolled.  But because of confusion, lack of information and/or the difficulty of the enrollment process, children are not benefiting from health care programs that already exist for them!

We need to change this. As concerned individuals, be activists in your communities to make sure children are getting the healthcare they need. Encourage your local schools to help all children enroll in an available health-care plan.  In Los Angeles, Children's Health Access and Medi-Cal Program offers information and links to local district and community health resources.  For National information, check out Covering the Uninsured.

The Millennium Promise is one that benefits us all, no matter our current personal circumstances, because it helps equalize the playing field. The Millennium Promise aims to achieve the following eight globally endorsed objectives that address the many aspects of poverty:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.

2. Achieve universal primary education.

3. Promote gender equality and empower women.

4. Reduce child mortality.

5. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

7. Ensure environmental sustainability.

8. Develop a global partnership for development.

Many notable individuals have used their fame and influence to raise public awareness of the extent of global poverty, including singer John Legend. Organizations such as Unicef, and Women Without Borders are making important strides in this area. But all of us can make this issue a priority, and make a personal determination to be part of the solution. With very simple interventions, we can wipe out global poverty in 20 years.  Make The Millennium Promise a done deal. 

Some women think that someone else in their lives will take care of their financial needs as they age, but clearly, that's not always the case. Women need to be personally responsible in the creation of their financial arrangements. If you don't have a retirement plan in place, there is no time like the present to get one started. Remember..as wonderful as they can be, a man is not a plan! Whether you're married or single, whether you're a stay-at-home mom, or if you work multiple jobs, planning for a comfortable retirement is a vital activity that begs your attention.

Don't know what to do? Here are some pointers to get you started.

1. Start a savings account, and save as much per month as you can.

2. Open an IRA or 401(k). If your employer doesn't have a 401 (k) program, lobby them to change their policies.

3. Seek the advice of a financial advisor.

4. Create an investment strategy that works for you. One example, is Freed Funds - a fund that can simplify your retirements investments.

Check out Women's Finance for more suggestions, and get started on your retirement plan now.

My 82-year-old mom just went through one of the most difficult experiences of her life; surgery for lung cancer. I will say at the outset that she is amazingly resilient for all her apparent frailties, and has bounced back. In just a little over two weeks, she is chipper, happy, pain and cancer free, and has regained her twinkling smile.

While I noted that this was a most difficult experience for my mom -- she stated earth-moving, mind-altering experience for me. I over and over again that "I didn't think I was going to make it," it was also an had to see my mother in great pain. I had to watch her cry, and see her put through really tough treatments. I felt helpless, horrified, and angry at the unfairness of it all. Why the pain? Why did she need to suffer so much of it?

Obviously, fairness has nothing to do with cancer. Sobering statistics suggest that one in three of us will be affected by cancer at some point in our lives. My mom got lung cancer -- ironically she has never touched a cigarette in her life. She doesn't drink alcohol or coffee either. Go figure.

Though the first few days were admittedly torturous for her, she is one of the lucky ones. The surgery was successful. This time, cancer didn't win. But like most of you, I have family members and dear friends who fought the battle of cancer, and lost. It's not a disease we can take lightly. Finding a cure is something we should all be very committed to - and I will do my part.

But today, I am counting my blessings, living in this moment, and enjoying my mom's smile.

Use the following guide as an exercise to help you frame your goals, and start expressing your self today. Make a commitment to yourself.

Each day I will:

• Be grateful for what I have, and show kindness to others.
• Do something that makes me feel good.
• Express myself, and share what I know.

Every week I will:

• Take myself on a special outing.
• Get sufficient exercise, indoors and out.
• Do something fun with my husband/partner, and my children.

Every month I will:

• Go over my finances, and set priorities.
• Give of my time, talent or treasure to a charitable organization.
• Stretch my mind by learning something new.

Every year I will:

• Be proud of the person I am.
• Save money in a retirement fund.
• Evaluate my vocation choice and set goals for the future.

Every minute I will appreciate myself for who I am. 

Are your children learning life skills at school? If not, time to wise up and integrate those lessons into your home life, because many kids are graduating from high school without a clue about how to function out there in the real world. And without going way out on a political limb, life skills include recognizing our sexuality. Our kids need to understand the consequences of engaging in unprotected sex, and have a sense of the responsibilities that come with an unwanted, unanticipated, and untimely pregnancy. Is abstinence a life skill? if it is, it isn't being taught very well, or perhaps not learned very well, or perhaps simply not a universally viable option. 

I personally think our kids need to see the full picture - they need to be taught all the angles, every option. And then perhaps they'll grasp why personal responsibility is so important.

When you were growing up, you probably had chores to do, and perhaps this was a way to earn an allowance. My allowance was pitiful compared to what many kids today are given, including my own kids -- but the idea of an allowance is a good one, especially if it's being given as a reward for accomplished duties. 

Children need to learn about finances at an early age. We're about to hand them the biggest debt ever passed along to our future, so it's high time they were given a heads up.

Since my folks didn't have extra cash to throw around, my allowance was what I used to buy special items that didn't fall under the need-to-have category. As soon as I was old enough, I started babysitting. I couldn't wait to start my own savings and checking account. In fact, I learned how to go to the bank, to deposit cash, and to open and balance a checking account before my own mom did. Amazing.

I was of the generation that had obligatory home economics and shop classes. I took typing and shorthand classes as well. We were taught that work skills and life skills were not only important, they were crucial to our ability to "make a living." It was assumed we'd need to know how to cook for ourselves, and to sew a seam to repair a piece of clothing. Kids don't learn these skills now, unless you teach them at home. Too many kids go off to college without a clue about how to buy enough food to prepare a meal for two people.

Teach your kids these basics. As soon as they're old enough to understand, show them how to make a deposit in a savings account, and give them access to their savings account booklet so they can see how it grows. When your kids are old enough to have their first job, teach them how to open a checking account - show them how to write a check, how to keep track of their account balance. You'd be amazed how many kids leave high school without this knowledge. 

And most important - explain to them what a "credit card" is. Teach them about "debt." College-bound kids are easy prey to credit card companies. Make sure your kids understand that when they spend someone else's money, they need to pay it back - with interest. It's an important concept.

Teach your kids how to do their own laundry; how much soap to put in the washer, how to separate the colors and jeans from the whites. Teach them how to buy groceries, how to prepare a meal for one or two people, and how to preserve their left-over's. Teach them how to clean up after themselves - to have pride in their surroundings, and respect for the things they've been given. Encourage your kids to learn marketable skills. They may need to work to put themselves through college, and even if they don't need to, they should. 

They should certainly earn money for the extra things they desire. Because when they do these things for themselves, they become empowered as individuals. They earn self-respect, which is one of the most important benefits they can gain.

And finally, give your kids the benefit of your experience. Teach them the valuable life skills you worked hard to attain. As is painfully obvious from the current state of affairs, more than ever before, they'll need them.

Ever hear the phrase, barefoot and pregnant? Clearly it wasn't spawned from current pop culture.  Though this artifact of generations past was probably meant to be endearing, the subtext behind it seems to have more to do with territory and boasting rights than terms of endearment. By keeping a woman barefoot and pregnant, a man was not only staking his claim on her as his territory, but was also bragging that his penis worked and his seeds were lively and strong.

Men have historically been territorial where their women, sex and children are concerned and we women have come to accept this behavior, and to a certain degree, foster it. In fact, we seem willing to jump through all kinds of hoops to attract a man.

Throughout recorded history, women have learned to take the male's particular fancies into account when seeking a mate with whom to have children.  Current fashions, style and cultural rituals typically dictate how women behave.  Making ourselves attractive to the opposite sex isn't new. Each generation and every culture adds new moves and brings a slightly different flair to the male-female mating dance.

It's generally accepted, for example, that men like long legs and so we wear high-healed shoes and short dresses to show them off. Why? We instinctually want to perpetuate humankind.  Some studies show that women will wear shorter dresses and higher heels when ovulating - we dress more provocatively during specific days of our menstrual cycles because we are consciously or unconsciously trying to attract a mate.  Just for fun, notice what you wear between the 14^th and 18^th days after your period.  Perhaps more telling, check out what your teenaged daughters wear on those days. Oh my - Perhaps it's a good time to discuss birth control.

Another known turn-on for men is a high, rounded, voluptuous butt.  Add that to a narrow waistline, and you get the classic hourglass figure. This so-called perfect figure has a ratio of 70 percent. Such a figure - the narrow waist, flat abdomen, large, round, easy-to-grasp fanny historically signaled 'fertility' to the male species. Women became aware of this particular male lure and went to incredible lengths to draw attention to their curves.

In the nineteenth century, women wore bustles under their skirts to accentuate the size of their hips.  Was this comfortable do you think? Hell no, but what does comfort have to do with it? Our female predecessors strapped on torturous corsets to reduce their waist size to make the distinction between waist and hip even more obvious and alluring. Women of that era cinched their waistlines to the point of damaging their rib cages - going as far as surgically removing ribs to achieve that perfectly narrow waist.

Ohmygod. The corset squeezed their organs and restricted their oxygen intake and turned fainting into a gender-oriented pastime.  According to studies on the subject, this ratio has consistently proven to grab a male's attention.  So much so, in fact, that throughout history it was thought that a woman most capable of bearing children had a waist that was 70 percent smaller than her hips. Not surprisingly, the ideal waist size for a girl in the nineteenth century was one that matched her age.  Could this have been a trigger for an eating disorder? Hmm.  And all of this to attract a man.

Another feature of women thought to be highly attractive, is a long neck; this stunning attribute is so prized that we adorn them with jewels to show them off. Japanese Geishas painted their necks in white body paint, leaving only a small, seductively bare patch of skin showing at the nape, which at the time of Geishas was considered highly erotic, and could bring a man to his knees - and encourage a hefty payment.

The attraction to long necks is so pronounced in some Southern and East African tribes that girls begin to elongate their necks with silver rings as youngsters, eventually stretching the neck completely out of proportion, ultimately deforming the collarbone, and of course, the neck. These women can never take the rings off, for if removed, the elongated, deformed neck could not possibly support the weight of their heads, and their necks would break.  A high price to pay for attraction.

Though we may not universally follow their lead, our culture's glossy magazine pages are filled with beautiful, young, painfully skinny models who promote skeletal thinness, body piercing, tattoos and sexy body wear - all of which is, essentially, this generation's iteration of male bait; Beauty chasing the beast. 

Though some of our current come-hither trends are quirky, when I read about rituals that women of other cultures engage in to hedge their bets in the mating game, I think we of the westernized persuasion basically have it easy.  Lucky for me my guy is a leg man.  I can handle high heels.

What guys need to do to attract us is a whole different conversation.

However, though education is sought and schools are attended in great numbers by all girls who get the chance, are they landing the top jobs? Are girls and women equally represented in power positions based on percentage of population? Nope. So what are girls going to do with all this hard-won knowledge and education if our society doesn't allow them access to the highest-level careers, power board seats and corporate positions?

Oh, I know -- we do have many notable women in power positions. We have a female Secretary of State, a woman Speaker of the House, and an extremely notable woman just made a run for the Democratic Presidential nominee.  However, the actual numbers of women in top-level positions is still far below par with men. 

This apparent mixed message may be contributing to the fact that with all the possibilities seemingly on our plates and with all our legitimate potential, women still venture into the same fields that we have always historically dominated; 59 percent of all women workers are still concentrated in sales, clerical, and service positions. Either the majority of us don't realize there are other career options, or we don't believe we can vie for them.

Though we're loathe to admit it, the socialization of girls and women is still pretty much based on outdated schemas and norms. We're raised to assume, from an early age, usually by about 6 to 8 years old, that there are gender-specific roles we should play; a hierarchy of power; a norm or generalized set of behaviors and cultural rituals that we should perform. We've been bucking these boundaries for centuries, yet as a group, we continue to pursue the tried and true. 

Though there is no single answer to resolve this conundrum, perhaps education is still the key. Studies show that girls make up 57 percent of all college students in the United States. Perhaps the sea change will come when these young women cross society's unwritten boundaries and choose careers that fall outside of the norm.

But why do we need to have a day to honor our mothers? Shouldn't we do it every day? Well, yeah, that would be nice. But guess what. We lose track of time, we get caught up in other things, we get too busy, we lose sight of the trees in the forest, and bottom line, we simply take what our mothers do, and who they are, for granted.

But not today. Mom, today I want you to know how much I love you, and how much I finally appreciate all the sacrifices you made for me. As a mother myself, I can totally relate to the emotional rollercoaster ride you must have been on, and the thankless job mothering me must have seemed.

I remember when I was 18 years old, for example and thought I knew it all. There was no way I could have been convinced during that year that you had wisdom to impart to me about boys, love, health, education...my future. And though I watched you lose your cool several times - luckily for me, your tears and disappointments weren't flung at me in spiteful tirades, and you never, ever, got really rip-roaring mad. Usually you bore your emotional burden in silence.

At the end of the day, you always loved me; except that one time after I'd gotten married (too young, you'd said), and then ended up pregnant four months later, (too soon, you'd said). You didn't speak to me for weeks - the longest silent treatment you ever dished out. But you came to terms with my apparent destiny, and gathered me back in your arms despite your frustration.

I understand now that you just wanted me to have more chances in life - to pursue other interests before motherhood took all of my heart, mind, soul, and time. Ahh, well -- I have no regrets in motherhood, not the timing of it, and not the challenges of it, and thank God, neither do you. The river of time has carried me into plenty of opportunities and onto numerous rocky shores. Along the way I've had exhilarating experiences, made some great choices and also made some less-great choices.

Yet as a whole, my life is fulfilling and happy, and at any rate, I'm living the life I created. My children are beautiful, talented, loving, creative, and smart. I've done my best to mother them - without a doubt, love has always prevailed. My kids have all made a few mistakes, and they've all had some notable successes. I've sometimes been mad, sometimes sad. Such is life. I get it. As a mother, I get it even more.

I realized some years ago that you never felt confident about your abilities. I think this may be a chronic problem women, especially mothers face; the worry that we don't have the impact we wish we had on our young, and on our environment at large.

I understand now that mothers give so much of themselves that goes unnoticed, un-applauded, and often, unappreciated until much later in their lives. So, on this day, we need to make amends. We can admit and pronounce that mothers are the glue - the foundation - the ever-constant, the homing device, the compass in our children's lives.(I'm not dissing you, Dad - father's day is in June, and you'll get yours, I promise).

My mom is 82 years old, and the rigors of time, numerous joint replacements, back surgery, osteoporosis, arthritis and type 2 diabetes have robbed her of some of her independence, but none of her vitality, charm, and ability to love. My mom never needs to impose the silent treatment on me again - at 57, I've learned to listen to her - to appreciate her wisdom, and to honor her very being.

Mom, thank you for giving me life. Let me go on record to state unequivocally that you are a woman of worth and valor. You are precious to me, in every way. I wish you Happy Mother's Day today, and every day of your life.