Parenting. . hard???

During a lovely conversation today at lunch, my sweet friend said, "parenting sounds hard. . . " and I've been thinking about it since.  She doesn't have children, yet, and I wonder if the way that we talk at work sends her home with a desire to take extra birth control and possibly even initiate a period of abstinence.  Truth is - it is terribly hard.  When I think about how mean kids can be at school, how badly I want to splurge and buy my baby girl a $100 doll (good grief), how I'm terrified that I'm going to somehow screw them up because of something that I don't ever know has hurt them and how I am well aware of the 6th Commandment - "Thou shall not kill" yet it would take nothing short of the power to God to keep me from someone who dared to harm my children. . . . it's HARD!  My children make me crazy - I find myself with an overwhelming need to just leave the situation sometimes but then remembering that they are simply testing the boundaries of the person they trust the most in the world. I spend 1/2 of my paycheck paying someone else to take care of them so we can provide a roof over their head and I miss the days of spontaneous trips without the need for childcare arrangements or the cost of 4 people instead of just 2.  It's frustrating running into your bosses office saying, "Bubby has a fever of 102.5, bye!" and what I wouldn't give to not have two scars and horrible stretch marks!  Yes - Parenting IS hard. 
BUT - our children light up our life.  Their laughter is contagious, their kisses are like gold.  Their hugs can take all that's hard in life and diminish it all - even if it's just for a moment.  They are hilarious - we laugh a LOT.  They give us reasons to play with Barbies and Legos and make cookies and hang ridiculous "things" on our Christmas tree and call them "ornaments".  They provide us with new phrases like "whalla whalla whool" or "what the help" or "uh-oh boppy".  They show us unconditional love with their love for each other and for us, and they give us a shining glimpse into the way our Heavenly Father must feel about us as His children.  There's something magical about your princess saying, "mommy, you're getting so beautiful" or your prince saying, "mommy, I love you so much, you're my best friend". 
Parenting. . . . hard??  Absolutely.  The hardest thing you'll ever do, I'm convinced.  But worth it?  No question at all!  Sure we have to make concessions sometimes and we miss our more frequent date nights.  But being a parent along side my best friend in the world beats any candlelight dinner in the world.  I find my wish now runs more along the lines of, "God, please slow time down a bit because my babies are growing up entirely too fast and there's just no way to cherish every bit of it when it's flying by at this pace!!!!!!"
God has blessed me with so more than I could've ever hoped for and that includes. . . . . parenting.