What is a parent? That is a very good question I think, and one that is addressed in both serious and comedic fashion on a regular basis here at Parents R Us. Both Joy and I have covered the topic of parenting from many different angles since we started this blog, but today with Joys blessing I am just going to cover the question what is a parent.

I think a parent is a person who always considers the needs of a child or children first before giving themselves any consideration. This does not mean that all decisions will ultimately be in the best interest of the child/children, just that they are the first consideration. Lets face it there will unfortunately always come a time when as a parent you will have to compromise.

Joy and I both personally know people who have had to make these considerations and serious decisions. Some of these people we know have very inspiring stories and in some cases we even consider these stories heroic. An amazing thing is that most of these people would not even think of themselves as heroes, but at least to their children they are.

Joy has a very good friend who lost her husband and father to her two children in a gun fight in Pennsylvania not to long ago, and he was a law enforcement officer. Yet with this woman and her children’s lives crumbling all around her she kept her wits about her and made the hard decisions for her children that kept them all on the right track. This woman is a parent.

I have a very good friend of mine who has spent a lot of time and money to get custody of all of her sisters children because her sister is addicted to drugs. This friend of mine just recently got custody of the last and youngest of her sister’s kids who also happens to be bi-racial. Her only consideration was these children who are her family. This person is what I call a parent.

A parent is also any person who gets up every day and makes those decisions involving the care, feeding, clothing, health, and education of their kids even when these decisions are not always the easiest. Lets face it people but in these tough and hard economic times these decisions are becoming even more and more harder to make as the budget shrinks and employment opportunities are disappearing at an alarming rate.

These parents may even include unwed teen mothers who know they are not fit to care for a child, but choose adoption over abortion. These parents are also single people as well as married couples who want to adopt for whatever reason but will love them fiercely. In the case of my cousin they may even be a gay couple who have adopted a child and love them unconditionally just as if the child were one of their own.

I guess that at the end of all of this bloviating of mine about what a parent is, I have come to the conclusion that a parent is a person who just loves their children to the extreme. A parent only want what is best for their children, and will never quit or give up the good fight to make their children’s lives and world a better place for them to grow up in.

Well that is about all I have to say for now other that to quote a lady I heard recently. “Some people have the idea that a baby isn’t wanted, but a baby is ALWAYS wanted…maybe not by you but by someone”. So remember that adoption is always a woman’s choice too. To all of you parents out there you are the hero’s. Have a great day my friends and CIAO4NOW!!!!!