Vtbarb99

“Loving your kids is protecting them from stupid shit that they think they want to do, like run away to Mexico or jump off the top of the stairs or go on a boat without a lifejacket or when they’re in high school and they want to drink hard liquor. Loving kids is teaching them new things, and being delighted when they learn it. Loving children is when they hold your hand with their little sweaty, meaty paw and you feel a direct wire to your heart. Loving children is even though they drive you up the wall, and life was so much easier before they were around, you hope they always, always come back home, and you miss them as soon as they’re gone. You miss them as soon as the school bus takes them away in the morning, and you worry about them, you constantly worry about them, hoping and praying that, somehow, they will be one of the lucky ones. One of the lucky ones who is happy, and safe, and stays off drugs and lives to a hundred and two and never knows any heartbreak or pain.”
― Annie Hartnett, The Road to Tender Hearts