No One Tells You the Hardest Part About Being a Parent

On a rainy Friday afternoon, my boss entered the lab and told everyone to go to the lower floor because of a tornado warning. I looked outside and saw heavy rain. I worried about my son at daycare, but I couldn’t leave. So, I was stuck there with six other coworkers, waiting for the tornado warning to end. Interestingly, all of us were mothers, and when mothers get together, we usually talk about our kids. There’s nothing wrong with that — I enjoy talking about my child too. One coworker shared a story about her twelve-year-old son who fell ill. After he got better, she noticed a change in his voice. “His voice used to be so cute and sweet, but now it’s deep and grown-up,” she says, with a blend of both excitement and sadness. Another colleague fondly recalled the days when her kids would wake up early and rush to her room for morning cuddles. She chuckled and said, “Now they are teenagers.” As we shared our experiences and waited for the storm to pass, something hit me. <a href="https://medium.com/change-your-mind/no-one-tells-you-the-hardest-part-about-being-a-parent-2b347645009a">Learn More</a>