Let’s talk about one of the best life decisions I ever made.

It also ended up being one of the most costly decisions. It cost me time. It cost me money. It cost me sleep. It cost me personal freedoms: the freedom to go to the grocery store alone, the luxury of going to the bathroom alone, the simple gift of a quiet cup of morning coffee. It cost me the control of the remote control — forever and evermore. It even cost me my career.

It cost me every moment of every day. Thank goodness for all of that.

Because I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Sometimes it was the best. The very best.

Sometimes it was unadulterated two-year-old giggly fun. Sometimes it was an extra bedtime story. Sometimes it was a sweaty hug from a football-playing teenager. Sometimes it was laughter around a family game of 20-questions during a long car ride.

But I want you to know this: It wasn’t always easy. It was also hard. It tested my patience. It tested my resolve. It tested my endurance. It tested my commitment. It tested my marriage. Many times.

It tested me to my core.

Testing you to your core is what motherhood (parenthood for that matter) is all about.

It isn’t supposed to be easy. Creating a little being who will be dependent on you for 18-plus years is going to be anything but a walk in the park. I think we can all agree on that.

Easy and parenthood are oxymorons.

But easy is almost always overrated. We don’t yearn for easy, even though we may think we do. We want to earn our riches.

And children are most certainly riches.

Despite knowing this, there were times when I lost my patience with my kids. There were times I lost my temper. There were times when I put them into a time-out and there were times when I put myself into a time-out (in the bathroom with a lukewarm cup of coffee.)

And it was here, in these critical moments, I realized my children felt like a responsibility — as they were born to be. Humans enter this world completely vulnerable and dependent on others for their care. But beyond that and before that, they were a privilege bestowed onto me. I’d been entrusted to be their mother.

What a gift.

As I stood there in the bathroom in my own self-imposed time-out, I realized that life’s responsibilities shouldn’t feel like weights. They should feel like privileges. We are chosen, as parents, to nurture and teach and love our little humans.

This involves responsibility, which can feel heavy at times. And sometimes it is. But it isn’t something you should look to run away from or toss by the wayside (even when you are in the bathroom, hiding and drinking coffee).

Those moments, while difficult, are not what defines parenthood. The definition defies a single moment, action or behavior. It defies a single day or even week. Parenthood, like life, is built upon learning and laughter as well as the occasional tears and time-outs.

Is parenting easy? Not everyday. Is it worthwhile? Every single day.

And speaking for any mother who has ever hid in the bathroom, just for a moment away with a lukewarm cup of coffee, I get you. What you are doing is worthwhile and wealthy beyond measure.

Don’t let anyone ever lead you to believe otherwise.

— Jill Pertler’s column Slices of Life appears occasionally in the Times. She can be reached at slicescolumn@gmail.com.