• I knew before my daughter was born that I wanted to try homeschooling her.
• We did for a few years, and it went well, but she recently asked to go to our local school.
• We were nervous about the transition, but she's thriving.

Before my now-6-year-old daughter Lucia was even born, I knew I wanted to homeschool her. This was not a decision that our family made lightly; my husband was mostly against it, and I had to convince him why I felt it was a good decision for our daughter.

I had my heart set on offering our child an alternative type of education, even though I was slightly concerned about a few things. I wanted to make sure her home curriculum would be up to standards and that she would know how to socialize and have friends. But still, I have never been a fan of the structured school day for such young children and felt it was the right decision for us.

Homeschooling worked for us at first

I think that spending much of the day seated at a desk is too much for a 6-year-old, and I am not a big fan of how the school system works. I feel children need to learn by getting hands-on experience and using more creativity. Our daughter is also full of energy and learns by observing and doing, as a lot of children do. I also feel that with class sizes being so large, teachers understandably can't give enough individual attention to students, especially those who need to be taught differently.

Plus, on a personal note, in the past couple of years, between moving back to our old town, renovating a house, and welcoming a new baby, sending our daughter to school when she had never even been to day care seemed like it would all be too much change for her. We thought she would find it overwhelming.

I also run my own business from home, and our family travels, so I loved the idea of having my daughter at home with me. I know we are lucky to have this set-up, and I thought it would be nice for her to see me run my business; I wanted to help teach her myself and for our family to be able to continue to travel throughout the school year.

So, for the past couple of years, we have been doing just that. Our daughter was homeschooled.

A private teacher came to our house, and I taught her, as well, partially using those hands-on methods we love. Besides the usual stuff that is taught to young children by using textbooks and worksheets (which we used provided by the elementary school here in Italy, where we live), my husband and I always encouraged our daughter to explore her creative side through things like painting.

Lucia also loves puzzles and from a young age, could sit and do a puzzle all afternoon. When we traveled, we always took her to museums and art galleries, and our daughter already recognizes famous historical sites and works of art, because she has had the joy of seeing them in person. Homeschooling was working well for her.

Until one day recently, she wasn't. She had already been homeschooled for over a year and was doing great. But this past October, she decided she was ready for a change.

Recently, my daughter asked to start at our local school

Our daughter, now 6, had a lot of friends and wanted to see them more often. My husband and I frequently brought up the option of going to school with her, including mid-year, because we wanted our daughter to know that when she felt she was ready, we were ready, too. Whereas in the past, when the subject of school came up, my daughter immediately would shut down and say she wanted to stay home, this time, she didn't. She told us she wanted to start at the local school where all of her friends attended.

We were honestly surprised but, at the same time, happy that it was our daughter who was the one to make the decision. In the back of my mind, while I had always wanted homeschooling to work out, I had been slightly concerned about the long-term effects, like my daughter not being in the same place socially or in terms of curriculum. My husband was concerned that since our daughter was homeschooled and bilingual (since there are no other American kids in her school and our daughter speaks Italian with an American accent), she would have difficulty staying up to speed with the other kids.

When we went to register her for school, we were told that we would need to bring our daughter in along with the work she had done at home for an evaluation. They needed to see if it would be possible to let her enter school mid-year since school had officially begun in September, and she would be starting in January.

After the meeting, we were told that our daughter would be able to start school within a month.

My daughter has been in school now for a little over three weeks and is doing amazing. Luckily, she entered a school where she already had so many friends in all different grades, so socializing was never a concern. She wakes up in the morning excited to go to school, gives me a kiss, and walks into the building proudly. She comes home happy from the long day, ready to do homework, and just as excited for the next day of school ahead.

I often felt like people were questioning my decision to homeschool my child and told me she would be behind the other kids because she wouldn't be socialized. Homeschooling was the right decision for us at the time. My daughter was able to keep up with her studies and still make a lot of friends. I'm so grateful for the time I had teaching my daughter at home. However, she is now thriving in a school environment, too.

• I was excited to take my two kids on my business trip while my husband stayed behind.
• Unfortunately, they came down with stomach bugs that were so bad, they ended up in the hospital.
• The experience taught me that I'm much stronger than I realized.

While I was away on a recent business trip with both of my children, I found myself in a position that I would wish upon no one. My six-year-old daughter and fourteen-month-old son both ended up in the hospital with a stomach bug. And to make matters worse, I got sick too. It was far from the trip I had imagined for us, but we got through it and it taught me — and my kids — that we can handle the hard stuff.

The trip was supposed to be great

I needed to be in Florence, Italy, for a month of work. I have my own public relations agency specializing in female-run businesses and I was booked back to back with meetings, networking, and on-site visits with clients. I told my husband I wanted our two kids to come along. My daughter is homeschooled, so being away and exploring a new place for a month would be a great educational experience for her. He agreed, but stayed home to oversee our renovations. Luckily, my mom was able to join to give me a hand with the kids.

Our time away didn't go as planned

On the eve of Halloween, my daughter woke up in the middle of the night vomiting. It lasted several hours, but by the next afternoon I thought we had turned a corner. The next morning, when my daughter finally seemed to have settled down, my son threw up. Seeing my little baby boy throw up, so tiny and frail, really startled me. And then he threw up again. And again. And again.

Since we were out of town and away from our pediatrician, I did what any concerned parent would do and took my kids to the emergency room at the nearest children's hospital. While in the waiting room, it was clear that a virus was making the rounds.

My daughter was still doing well, so she stayed with my mom in the waiting room while I took my son to be seen. He looked week and pale and a blood test showed that he had very low blood sugar. The doctors attached him to an IV for fluids, but he continued to throw up.

My son was admitted for overnight observation

As soon as we had arrived at the hospital, I called my husband and told him to meet us. He drove five hours from our town further south in Italy and made it in time for me to tell him that I would need to stay the night with our son while he stayed with our daughter and my mom.

That night, things took a turn for the worse when I ended up getting sick. Early that evening, I started feeling nauseous. In the middle of the night, I woke up and threw up — right there in the hospital bed with my son sleeping next to me. A few hours later, I threw up again.

The next morning, I woke up in the hospital bed with my sweet little boy who, while he still seemed pale, seemed more like his usual smiley and giggly self. I was feeling better too. I called to check in on our daughter and it seemed she was getting worse again. My husband said she was very weak, lying on the sofa and wasn't her usual energetic self. I insisted he bring her back to the emergency room.

When she was admitted, she too had very low blood sugar. It didn't improve in a few hours, so she was going to stay for a night too.

There I found myself, lying in a hospital bed with my then-fourteen-month-old son attached to an IV holding him in bed, and my daughter in the next hospital bed, attached to an IV, as well.

Spending two nights in the hospital with both of my children was one of the most challenging and frightening experiences of my life. I felt helpless. I felt scared. I felt overwhelmed. I was so nervous, but trying to keep it together and put on a brave face for my children.

The next day, their blood sugars were in a better range and we were told we could go home. I started crying with relief.

Something good did come out of this experience

As someone who struggles with severe anxiety, this very stressful situation taught me that I'm a lot stronger than I had realized. It also showed me that in difficult situations, I can hold it together and do what needs to be done, especially when it comes to my children.

While this was clearly not the trip I imagined, all that matters to me is that my children are okay.