The most rewarding parts of being a parent

All too often, we talk about the challenging aspects of parenthood: expensive childcare, the hurdle of paying for college, even bedtime tantrums.

But that’s not what parenting is actually about.

We expend all this effort raising little humans because it can be one of the most gratifying, surprising, hilarious adventures of our lives. So, the Fabric employees who are parents took a pause to really examine why they do what they do.

Yes, diapers are terrible and sleeplessness sucks. But that’s not all there is. Here are the reasons we’re grateful for our kids:

Seeing everything with a fresh pair of eyes

Through my kids, I get to experience everything like it’s new. Just seeing the NYC skyline at night for the first time with your child is pretty amazing. I mean, it’s incredible even when you’re an adult. When my son saw it that first time, it was really exciting. First, because he’s almost never out in the dark, he was like, “Daddy, there’s dark all over me!” and when he saw the skyline it was total amazement, like, “Wow.”

-Adam, CEO

The insane feeling of love

The hugs. The insane feeling of love. My daughters are some of the kindest little people I could imagine and they make me feel so incredibly loved every day.

-Emily, product

The constant joy of surprise

Parenthood is a completely new experience. It’s not like work, and it’s not like being married, and it’s not like making new friends. It’s different. There’s more surprise, so it’s always pretty interesting. In work, for example, you’ll get a promotion or you’ll start a new job, but there aren’t as many surprises. Compare that to your kid’s first word. You go from your child not being able to speak at all to some word coming out of their mouth. Why it happens and when and what they’ll say–those are all beautiful unknowns.

-Julian, software engineer

Living up to my kids’ high regard

The best part for me is the esteem my kids hold me in, the pure love they have for me. It makes me remember how safe I felt in my own parents’ arms, and I think about that when I hold my kids before bed and create those moments for them. I hold my parents in high regard, not just as individuals but as people who exemplify this role for me, and then I try to live up to that for my kids. Their perfect love makes me want to be worthy of that regard and that love.

-Saadiq, product

The sound of my baby’s laugh

My baby’s belly laugh — she sounds like a hilarious old man. And the way she squeals and grins when she sees me or her dad. She doesn’t know how to speak yet, but she certainly knows how to tell us she loves us.

-Allison, editorial director

My appreciation for my own parents

There’s a selfless place you enter when you have children. So much of life to this point has been wildly selfish, so there’s an expansion of character and a depth you take on. Normally a relationship has reciprocity–if you treat me badly, I’m out. But this child can do whatever, she’s still yours. I find myself appreciating my own parents more than I ever have before. We used to have dinner every day at 5 pm. How did that happen? How did they pull that off? They must have made a real commitment to make that happen. I honestly have no idea how my dad was swinging it. My house was always immaculately clean and I don’t know who was doing that. Being a parent, myself, puts a lot of this in perspective.

-Wayne, creative director

The fragility and value of new life

I’m just struck by the emotional aspect of how precious new life is. Being a father has given me an appreciation for how much energy the entire world puts into creating new life. Not just human beings, but every thing.

-Nishant, chief marketing officer

The shared joy of learning together

I personally get a lot of joy out of learning new things, physical or abstract, and so does my son. I love seeing that joy on his face when he’s mastered a task. It’s basically the same joy your entire life, and I love being there for that with him.

-Steven, CTO

The coolest, most amazing person you could imagine

The best part of my kids? I honestly don’t even know how to answer this question with words. It’s a gift and a blessing to be a parent. I can’t think of anything greater I could do in my lifetime. To me, it’s this feeling of a love that makes you find the energy to wake up night after night to soothe your newborn, a love that gives you patience (even when you literally have zero patience left) to manage your toddler’s tantrums, a love that gives you the strength to let your 7-year-old have her first sleepover at the neighbors.

Even with being exhausted, and worried, you do it gladly and with everything you have because that little person is like the coolest, most amazing thing you could imagine and you get to be its shepherd through life.

-Glenda, customer service

This article first appeared on Meet Fabric.