This Joy Will Change Your World Forever

When my son, Daniel, was four years old, he declared he did not want to be a parent when he grew up. Why? "It seems really hard."

And he is correct. Raising children is amazing and painful and awesome and humbling and wonderful and HARD. So very hard. There are no easy answers, no diagrams guaranteeing success, no magic checklists - only crippling self-doubt in the middle of the night.

But raising children is also unbelievably rewarding and brings me joy in ways I never thought possible. And I am awe-struck by how much these two humans have changed my life. How strange it is that these once-tiny babies turn into real-life people with personalities and quirks and issues of their own. How my husband and I have now been surrounded by the children we created longer than we were ever a couple on our own. How lucky and blessed and wonderful it is to get to raise these two individuals from their time as infants into full-fledged adults.

Everyone's path is different. Some are not able to become parents and others do not choose this path. But, speaking only for myself, I have found being a parent the most terrifying and joyful and humbling and soul-sucking and uplifting and awe-inspiring experience I have ever known. And I would not trade it for the world.

So, Daniel, being a parent is indeed "really hard." But when you feel like giving up, you keep going. When you do not know what you are doing, you keep trying. When you are exhausted and tired and beaten down, you keep showing up. And there is satisfaction and fulfillment and joy in the culmination of the small, draining, wearying tasks of parenthood. And this joy will change your world forever.