On being a real parent

Being a parent is a 24 hour a day job, not just a few hours here and there. A parent is always there for their child, sitting through countless hours of extracurricular activities, talking to them, teaching them, having all their friends over unexpectedly at the last minute, watching movies with them, just being there for your child NO MATTER WHAT. That is what a parent does. You always put your child first, nothing is more important. My kids come first in my life no matter what else is going on and THEY KNOW IT! They know they can count on me for anything and everything and at the end of the day when I am exhausted from working, running around, cooking, cleaning, schooling, play dates, and 4 straight hours of band practice, they know that I am here and even though I am done, I always have time for one more game of chess, one more story, one more walk down the street, what ever they need. The best part is that at the end of all of that (more like a 36 hour day) I get to snuggle up with them and watch a movie and then we all go to bed. I would not trade a minute of this for anything. Not anything at all!