The Velveteen Rabbit on being REAL

Sometimes great wisdom comes in unlikely places, like a children's book....

" "What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day...
"Real isn't about how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked,"or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once, said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

(The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams)

When I was younger I thought I knew so much, and I held those older than me in not as high regard as I should have. As I walk this journey called life, especially this path called mommyhood, each day I feel like I am becoming more and more REAL. I certainly have the worn out parts to show for it!! Sometimes I grumble about the wear and tear I suffer, but I am becoming REAL, and I have children that love me dearly. What on earth could be better?