West Coast Avengers cover with
Hawkeye wearing a hearing aidLittle Anthony Smith was absolutely sure about one thing -- superheroes did not wear hearing aids. So when his mom Christina D'Allesandro asked the 4-year-old to put on his hearing device -- which they dubbed "blue ear" because of it's color -- he naturally put up a fight.

She told him that crime fighters did in fact wear hearing aids, but Anthony wanted proof. As with most good moms, Christina didn't give up. She emailed Marvel Comics to see if, on an off chance, there were any superheroes who fit the bill. "I am likely to get stuck in your spam filter," she wrote from their Salem, New Hampshire home. "But you never know..." The long shot paid off.

Four years ago, Hanna and Chris Rapini welcomed their first child into the world, a son they named Cole. Seemingly healthy and strong, they took him home from the hospital ready to start their new life ... only that new life quickly took a tragic turn as his health started deteriorating.

From vision and hearing loss to severe developmental delays, he developed a host of medical issues. In his short life he has undergone countless tests and surgeries and traveled across the country looking for answers or a cure, but the only one that has been given is that it's an undiagnosed condition. Recently doctors dealt the devastating blow that Cole's situation is getting worse, and that he likely has only a few years left to live.

I was reading "15 Things You Should Give Up to Be Happy" and it made me think about parenthood -- being a mom. There are things we get caught up in and it messes with us -- with our sense of balance, our zen, and simply, our happy. The recent Time magazine cover story brought out the worst in us. The judgments. The misunderstandings. The ugly. It was almost like a new campaign perfectly designed to fuel the mommy wars. But it will only do that if we let it.

And that's exactly what that "give up" list made me realize. We can't let it. We can't let things get to us and divide us -- as moms, as parents, as a person. We all have these inner conflicts and struggles and they are often caused by things on the outside -- the judgements, the misunderstandings, the ugly. We need to make changes. We need and deserve to be happy -- happier. So here's my list of the 14 things you should stop doing to be a happy mom or dad.

Take off your judgmental hats for a moment on this one and just bask in the adorableness of this father-daughter moment if you can. Yes, the dad curses right in front of his toddler daughter, but it's so damn cute I forgive him.

There they are watching the Celtics basketball together, and the dad is really into the game. The girl is watching right alongside him and echoing his intense reactions to what's happening on the screen. Her little voice and dancing around while she does it just makes it unbearably cute. Watch.

Sili is the chief executive mami to a little girl she calls the frog princess. And she still finds time to write about life, liberty, and the pursuit of Maminess on her blog My Mamihood!

To help us celebrate Mother's Day, she's shared her "user manual for life." Here are all 21 bits of advice for her little girl and little girls around the world:

I have so much that I want to share with you. So much that I want to make sure I tell you. But I know that as time goes by, it doesn’t matter what I say to you. You will record what you see, what you feel. This blog started off as a way for me to document My Mamihood and you are the sole reason for that. I pray I am able to show you the nuances of life, but just in case that doesn't happen, I plan on leaving a user's manual.

There are some weeks and months in which it feels like every single person I know has a birthday. I spend countless dollars and time on cards, gifts, and trying to come up with a witty Facebook post that says something besides "Happy Birthday." Then all of a sudden, nada.

I thought it was just random luck, but it turns out there's a science to it all, as some days are just more popular for births. Weird but true, and this cool interactive chart put together by Andy Kriebel of VizWiz shows which days are the most and least popular birthdays. It's pretty fascinating to play with. You just find your date, then hover over it and it tells you what rank out of 366 (leap day is included) you and your kids' days falls upon.

The most popular day to be born on is September 16, which isn't all that surprising given that's about nine months after the festive holiday season and New Year's Eve, but the least popular day is a bit of a shock. Any guesses as to what it is?

Toddlers are big complainers. My husband and I joke that our 3-year-old son who is coming up on 4 is actually going on 65, since most of the time he acts like a grumpy old man in a restaurant at 5:30 who is receiving bad service from an inept wait staff.

"Of COURSE I want dessert," he says imperially when my husband or I deign to ask him if he'd like something sweet after a meal. "Are you trying to kill me?" he asks suspiciously after tasting the Brussels sprouts we cajoled him into trying. "Why aren't you getting me my milk?" he demands 3.4 seconds after he asked for a glass for the first time.

Obviously, all parents have their tolerance level and we are working on our son's general demeanor. But it also cracks us up and, most of the time, we are just glad our kid doesn't have Yelp.

You've got to hand it to the little boy in the following video. He's got confidence, guts, and more determination than a honey badger. He wants a kiss from the little girl, and he's not going to stop until he gets it.

It's weirdly familiar of scenes I've seen play out in bars when some guy just won't take no from a girl ... only in miniature. Repeatedly he tries, and repeatedly she shoots him down and even shoves him down. But his mission is kissin', and he's determined to carry it out.