There is a moment in life where you go from being a person with or having a child to being a parent. In this moment you realize that this little person isn't just a person, but he or she is a part of you. They own a piece of your heart that you will never be able to reclaim as your own. Their hurts become your heartbreaks. Their joys become your shining moments. You make sacrifices for them and don't even think about it. You gladly trade in your purse or shoe obsession to get them the things they need and/or want. You don't even mind too much that your purse no longer matches your shoes and you barely paint your nails anymore because you don't have time to sit while they dry. You become fluent in the preschool shows, the tween stuff and the teen stuff. Sometimes you juggle all three at once if you have more than one child. You realize that there are a lot of "adult" shows you can't talk about because you traded your adult show time to watch stuff with your kids. You know that the most valuable gifts in your home have no monetary value, they are the precious ones your children so proudly made you or picked out. No matter how gaudy it may look, you wear it proudly like a king or queens crowned jewels.
There are times that your heart breaks into a million pieces because you see your child going through something and you know that there is absolutely nothing you can do to fix it for them. You feel helpless and desperate to be able to help them.
Sometimes there is a defining moment when you can point and say that was the point I became a parent. Other times you just realize one day that somewhere along the way you became a parent. Either way when you realize that you have stepped into that role, you know without a shadow of a doubt that it is a role that you wouldn't trade for anything in this world.
