How would you feel if I came up to you and pinched your cheek?

And this is how I became the happy mom of the tantrumming toddler.

Hello? My kid needs a warm and comfy place to poop. May we please use your home?

There’s something about the ability to move freely, to think freely, that conjures the realization of how preciously wonderful it is to take care of small children.

I kneeled before him, in some act of contrition, and just hugged him tightly.

They say you should wean once they start talking. They don’t know what they’re talking about.

We all take a turn being “that” parent…the one whose kids run amok leaving us feeling browbeaten and broken.

My son has a scar in the middle of his forehead. It was the first time I felt one of my flaws as a mother was on public display.

I cherish those precious times where he was nestled into my chest at the end of a long day, but I don’t spend my time yearning for those moments.

“Hold my hand,” the request comes at 4 a.m., an hour before I have to wake up for work.