Is it worth it?

Recently, I was having a conversation with a friend who decided to never have children.  When I pressed her on the reason why, she replied "Because I have lots of friends who are moms.  And when they tell me about motherhood, it just seems really hard.  It just never sounded worth it to me."  My first reaction was to sugar coat it "Noooo, parenting is so great, it's not hard, it's rainbows and puppies and butterflies 24/7....." because what kind of person wants to complain about being a parent?  But I thought that honesty was the better policy......

Parenting IS hard.  It's a job....one that sucks out loud sometimes.  It's waking up to throw up in the crib and glancing down to see poop in the bathtub.  It's labor and delivery and epidurals and recovery and doctor bills.  It's little sleep and being a walking zombie.  It's not getting to show my husband any affection whatsoever until my toddler goes to bed (we're dealing with jealousy issues right now). It's toddler tantrums and messy vehicles.  It's getting off work and starting my second job.  It's walking through the door in the evening and fitting in mealtime and cleanup time and playtime and listening to the "Winnie the Pooh" movie on repeat until I think I'm going to scream.  It's magnets under the couch and bread crumbs in the bed.  It's curling my hair with a toddler clinging to my legs.  It's HARD.

But, unlike most jobs, it comes with built-in rewards.  It's walking in the door at the babysitter's house and hearing her yell "Mommy!!" and watching her run to me like I'm the single most important person in the world.  It's pride when she learns a new word.  It's sticky kisses and squeezing hugs.  It's singing Mickey in the car and laughing when she does.  It's watching her grow and learn every day and knowing that I'm helping her become the person she's learning to be.  It's forgetting about all of the terrible things because the great things make it all worth it in the end.  I'd take a million poops in the bathtub for a "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!" and a kiss when I walk in the door.  Parenting isn't easy, by any stretch of the imagination.  I wish someone had opened my eyes to that in the beginning.  But.....I don't know that it would have mattered.  Because I'd do it all again in a second.