Oh, to be a parent.

I read once where raising a child is like watching your heart walk around outside of yourself.

True.

For me, there is a connection to my children that is actually painful. I feel what they feel, and admittedly I feel what I think they are feeling when they may not be feeling as intensely as I believe they are. Nevertheless, when they are in pain I am in pain and when they are happy I feel happy for them. I wonder why these feelings are so strong.

I understand that my children have to go through experiences that will give them the strength and knowledge they need for the next trial that comes along, but that doesn't mean I don't want them to be happy and have things go well for them pretty much all the time. No, if I'm truthful, I want them to be hap, hap, happy all of the time. Yes, then my life would be much less worrisome.

How could we have understood what it would be like to be a parent before we had kids?

I simply have to trust in the purpose of life. How easy is that?