Originally Posted by CSchmidt

My younger daughter had troubles breathing well when laying down at night. I often slept on the couch sitting up with her on my chest - more vertical than horizontal. If she coughed I would pat her back. It seemed comforting for her. It cost me at least 100 nights of good sleep.

One night, she was about 18 months old, she had a cold and we were on the couch again. I had her cold also ( the lovely 30 pound germ sponges love to share with parental units). I coughed, ..... and she patted my back.

It seems to me that with everything in life, your job, your spouse, your car, your kids..... unless I invest some emotional energy in them, then I don't appreciate their value. Take a job that you have spilled your guts into for 15 years, then quit. How do you feel. You have a car like Hatty's SDL. You invest $, busted knuckles, and your free time... it becomes an emotional tie. Now multiply that times 1000 and that's where kids are. They are way harder to maintain than cars, and give back so much more.