Becoming a parent

 Becoming a parent unlocked a door I didn’t even know existed.

A door that leads straight back to my childhood.
To all the little things I never understood… until now.

I get it now.
The exhaustion.
The constant worry.
The way they said “no” even when I didn’t understand why.
The way they sometimes snapped when they were just overwhelmed.
The way they showed love in the only ways they knew how.

It’s wild how holding my own child made me look at my parents differently.
Not with judgment, but with compassion.
Because now I know how hard it is.
Now I know what it takes.
Now I see the sacrifices that went unnoticed.
The quiet ways they held it all together.

I still carry pain.
I still have things I wish were different.
But now I also carry empathy.
Because I know what it’s like to try your best while feeling like it’s never enough.

Parenthood didn’t just make me a mom.
It helped me become the version of me that can finally forgive.
Finally understand.
And finally give grace to the people who raised me.