Coming back from a vacation spent entirely with 3 kids, I was thinking late last night about children, family, and parenting.
Parenting takes a ton of energy, more patience than you have, a huge slice of your life, and much more besides.
But one thing I think parenting does is teach you about yourself. Of course kids are ‘for’ much more, but something that happens, if you’re perceptive, through all the whining and “me, me” and “that’s mine” and petty squabbles, is a deepened appreciation for what it means to be human and flawed.
We do it in nicer and more socially acceptable ways, but adults still engage in most of these behaviors. We’re just better at hiding it.
But we work at being better people. and we work at growing up … just like our kids.