Immigrants and their children face incredible challenges every day.  Hard work occupies most days and often at multiple jobs.  Some do not have a single day off each week.  This, on top of tremendous cultural and language challenges make daily life very difficult.  So little time is left to be a parent.  However, this job is perhaps the most important job of all.

Immigrants and their children face incredible challenges every day.  Hard work occupies most days and often at multiple jobs.  Some do not have a single day off each week.  This, on top of tremendous cultural and language challenges make daily life very difficult.

So little time is left to be a parent.  However, this job is perhaps the most important job of all.  And for the children of immigrants, the importance of dedicated parenting is particularly acute because these children are at increased risk for many problems.  Nutrition and obesity are only two examples - here kids have easy access to cheap, processed foods with little or no nutritional value.  Thus, parents' food choices and habits will influence their children's health for a lifetime.

Parents' involvement can also propel children to amazing heights.  I point directly to U.S. astronaut Jose Hernandez for illustration.  Jose, a Californian-born son of Mexican immigrants, just returned from a two-week mission on board the shuttle Discovery.

Jose grew up picking cucumbers and tomatoes and followed the crops with his family.  When he was young, his parents settled in California to give the family a more stable life with better education.  Over time, Jose's skill and hard work earned him a bachelors and a master's degree in engineering.  Then, after applying every year for twelve years, he fulfilled his dream of becoming an astronaut.

Jose credits his success to a good education and parents who forced him to study, who checked his homework and stayed involved in his schooling.  "What I always say to Mexican parents, Latino parents, is that we shouldn't spend so much time going out with friends drinking beer and watching telenovelas, and should spend more time with our families and kids . . . challenging our kids to pursue dreams that may seem unreachable," he said.

So stay involved with your kids.  Who knows where they will fly?