We have a crisis on our hands. And it involves our lovely 5 month-old daughter. Her health and happiness could be affected by a nasty habit of yours: smoking.

You know the facts. You’ve always known. You know that smoking can cause certain cancers, lead to death, and cost thousands of dollars a year. And a recent report issued by the U.S. Surgeon General revealed that nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work increase their risk of developing heart disease by 25 to 30 percent and lung cancer by 20 to 30 percent.

You see, even though you cautiously step outside to smoke, or sneak into your office at home, shut the door, open a window and light up, the particles from the cigarette stay with you. They cling to your shirt, your hair, and beard. You bring them with you while you carry or hug our daughter and nestle her to your chest or sit her on your lap. Maybe you don’t know that studies have found that children whose parents smoke outdoors take twice the amount of nicotine into their bodies as children whose parents don’t smoke. When you go inside, the cigarette particles that have attached to you are absorbed by anything or anyone you come into contact with.

You tell me you’re not addicted. But I wonder when you tell me you’re going to take the dog out, and grab the keys and the shiny pack of cigarettes and lighter from the dresser.

You tell me you’re going to quit. “The is the last one,” you say as a cigarette dangles from your lips.

I will not be like my mother, who let her sister, my aunt, smoke in our house when I was a kid. I will not admonish anyone—friends, relatives, or strangers—who tell you to quit.

What does this mean for our daughter? Nicotine has grave effects on the body. The U.S. Surgeon General’s report said that even brief exposure to secondhand smoke has immediate adverse effects on the cardiovascular system. And, because the bodies of infants and children are still developing, they are particularly vulnerable to the toxic chemicals in secondhand smoke. Children, whose parents smoke, outdoors or not, have a good chance of becoming smokers themselves.

It is with great love and courage that I give you this letter. And with great love and courage, you can, and hopefully will, quit.