What about parenthood surprises you?

Sometimes, when you're staring at something, you just don't see the most obvious thing ... and other times the most obvious thing just reaches out and grabs you in a way you might never expect.

One day you just look down at your grapefruit half and you see your heart, still wedged into its shell, promising flavors both bitter and sweet.

Raising children is like this.

It becomes oddly apparent that, like this fruit you might never have considered eating as a child -- or anything for which it took some level of maturity to aquire a taste -- is what parenthood is all about.

Children make you eat your heart out: bitter and sweet.