What Does It Take To Be A Parent?

Here in the trenches we sometimes wish that people had to pass a test in order to procreate.  Being a parent is more than just giving birth.  There are plenty of people out there who have contributed to the birth of a child who are not parents in any sense of the word except biological.  Although the law may consider them parents for purposes of supporting a child, they are not parents in my book.  A parent is a caregiver, protector, guardian and nurturer of a child.  It is a person who not only loves a child, but who is committed to promoting that child's best interest and is capable of understanding what that best interest might be.  A parent is not always right, almost never perfect, but has the heart to continue to strive to be the best parent they can be.   They work at it because it matters.   It doesn't matter if the child likes them or loves them back.  It is the love and dedication of a person directed toward a child that makes a parent, even of an adult child, because it's a job for a lifetime.