(CNN) -- Sarah McLachlan, the Grammy Award winning singer and songwriter whose ballads helped so many of us through heartache, breakups and loss, was barely out of her teenage years when her first album was released back in 1988. 

Now, she's a 46-year-old divorced mom of two girls touring the country to promote her seventh full-length solo album, called "Shine On." 

"I'm a whole hell of a lot older," she joked, when I asked her, during a casual conversation at CNN's studios earlier this week, how much her life has changed. 

McLachlan credits her success in the '90s, fueled by memorable hits such as "I Will Remember You" and "Angel," with allowing her to take time off, have children and be a full-time parent. Her girls, now ages 7 and 12, have traveled on tour with her since they were babies. 

"They're the great leveler because they couldn't care less what it is that I do for a living," she said with a laugh. 

The three-time Grammy Award winner and Canadian-born singer didn't quite set out on her career to empower women, but that's what she's done. She spearheaded the Lilith Fair, a concert tour comprised of only female artists and female-led bands in the late 1990s and again in 2010, which raised millions for charities. 

During our mom-to-mom chat, we talked about her biggest worries as a parent, what she admires about the singer Lorde and why her sex life is thriving. The video above and this transcript of our conversation have been edited for length and clarity: 
What did she decide to do with her earnings?
McLachlan credits her success in the '90s, fueled by memorable hits such as "I Will Remember You" and "Angel," with allowing her to take time off