Parenthood: A Horcrux or The Giving Tree?

Its been a trying week or two here in the Malstrom household. My little tiny terrorist has been sick. A sick toddler equals a lot of grumpiness and not a lot of sleep...and the toddler can be tricky too.

Needless to say I have discussed the helplessness you feel as a parent when you can't make your little one feel better with several people and have some how had parenthood compared to the two following literary references.

1. A Horcrux

      Now if you are a Harry Potter nerd like me (like you have read the books WAY more than once, not just seen the movies)....you are well versed in the Horcrux concept. If not, here is my pedestrian rundown of it....
A horcrux in the magical world is a powerful dark magic where the magician splits his own soul and places it into another object. Therefore if the magician is killed, he can come back using the small part of his split soul. Voldemort being uber evil, did this seven times. It involves killing someone in the magical world to create a horcrux. Bad stuff.

So you are probably wondering how this concept was compared to parenting!? Well I was explaining to someone how when you hear your baby crying, as a mother you feel a physical ache or pain and you immediately want to fix it. I went on to say "Having a baby is like taking a part of yourself or your soul and putting it outside of your body and watching it walk around". Kinda like a horcrux.... Now, rest easy and know I did not kill anyone to have my baby (unless you count my previously carefree pre-baby self :). But having Sophia was like taking a part of myself and safely tucking it away in someone else. In her I will always have innocence, the ability to not make the same mistakes and feel an unconditional love I never thought possible. My soul outside of my body...thats Sophia, my little horcrux.

2. The Giving Tree

 Now I am pretty sure everyone knows "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein. It the touching story about a little boy and his tree. The tree loves the boy and as time passes the boy grows and no longer wants to swing in the trees branches. So the tree gives the boy his leaves, apples, branches and finally his trunk. And the boy grows old and sits on the stump. Its a touching tribute to love.

But that is not how it was presented to me recently. A much more jaded person than myself said "You know what parenting is like, its like being the effing Giving Tree". As the parent, you are the tree and the little boy is your child/children. You selflessly give and give and the little person takes and takes. In the end you are the stump.

Stump?

Well I am not that jaded, yet. But I do see that as the tree, you love the little boy so much that you want to give him whatever he needs to be happy. You put your child's needs/wants happily before yours because if they are happy, you are happy.

So after 2 weeks of minimal sleep. Hours of fever checking, snot wiping, medicine administering and tear wiping....am I the horcrux or the tree? 

Both I think and neither. But happy nonetheless.