How can it be?

How, after all this time, can parenthood still be so overwhelming? I feel like I've got a good handle on it most of the time - I know his schedule and his cues, I feed him healthy food, we have fun together, and I feel that he's a darling boy that I would lay my life down for without thinking twice.

And then I realize that I can't do what I really want to: protect him from the hard things in life. I can't protect him from natural disasters. I can't prevent him from being teased by a mean kid in school. I can't give him everything he could ever want because a) I don't have that much money and b) it isn't good for him. I know that he has to go throught the hard things in life to be a well-rounded, well-adjusted individual. I can help him live through the hard times, but he has to learn to survive them all on his own.

Motherhood is the biggest joy and and most terrible heartbreak all in the same breath.