re: do you believe in the blanket statement "family comes first"?

No, there are times when your family can be the worst thing for you. Especially your parents and their decisions for you. Sometimes you need to be selfish and go for the goals you want instead of doing what they want.

In general though, putting family first is a good idea. Especially when it comes to children, you should try to do what's best for them. So it's a double edge sword and you should try to think of that when you decide what is best for your kids and what they want...