Gretchen's Take: We can have it all; my advice to fellow parents

Gretchen's Take: We can have it all, but there's a catch

Unrealistic expectations set up all women to fail

When I was a young girl my mom would sit by my bedside every night and after saying prayers she would tell me, "Gretchen, you know you can be anything you want to be." Those words inspired me to achieve yet, I also knew from an early age I always wanted to be a mom. I grew up believing I could do them both - the so called "having it all - a successful career and family.

So here are my life lessons you can learn more about in my new book "Getting Real."

Teamwork with your spouse is essential.

Give up your perfectionism. I'm a reformed perfectionist. Dads or moms dressing babies in polka dots and stripes is a ok as long as they are fed and changed!

Having it all for women is a demon - an unrealistic expectation that sets all of us as women -- up to fail.

Here's the truth:
When I'm at work I'm giving work 100 percent -- not my kids and when I go home to hockey and piano lessons - I'm not giving 100 percent to work.

So here's my take - yes we can have it all! But we just can't have it all at the same time.

You can go to www.GretchenCarlson.com for more info about my new book "Getting Real"