Selfish or unselfish?

Is it possible to want to become a parent for anything but selfish reasons? I can't think of one.

So how is it that in order to be an effective parent, you also need to be incredibly unselfish? When you are in a hurry to get somewhere and your child falls and cuts open their lip, effective parent rules would dictate that you should stay and put on a Curious George bandaid before heading back out on your journey. When you are tired and sick (or perhaps just sick and tired), if your child has a bad dream or is teething and needs you, effective parent rules would also suggest that you should tend to your child's needs.

It makes me wonder why we continue to work at populating the earth. People actively (and at times go to great lengths) to try to get pregnant. Shouldn't all the unselfishness you have to go through stop people from doing that?

Of course it doesn't. It's bizarre. Because, for every unselfish moment you have as a parent, there is a selfish one where YOU are the one that they want when they fall. And YOU are the one that they want when they wake up at night.

There is not enough money in this world to pay for the feeling that you get when your child, in a moment of spontaneous affection, comes to give you a hug and tell you that they love you.

Selfish? Unselfish? Whatever is it is. I'll take it. Any day and twice on Sunday.