The heart of parenting can be filled with pain.
It can hurt deeper than anything I have ever experienced. When you have a little one (at any age) that is hurting or hearting as I call it, meaning their heart is hurting, it feels twice as painful to me as any personal hurt I have ever suffered. I guess this is what it means to love deeply. Your heart hurts more. I am convinced that there are invisible bonds that have attached my heart to theirs.
Of course, the reverse is true also. The heart of parenting can be filled with joy.
When I have a little one whose heart experiences joy, that joy is magnified 10 times for me. It is a bit of a roller coaster when different children experience different spectrums of the heart in one day. sigh.
Go love your little ones…Happy Valentines Day.