For me, it was when I found myself keeping or buying odd things because “the kids will think this is funny.” Case in point:

I am a one-woman show and they are my audience. I would do just about anything to make them smile. Including buying $25 fruity punch drinks in the Cayman Islands and bringing the cheesy glasses all the way home in our luggage. I also saved the mints from our pillows and smuggled home 2 tiny boxes of Cheerios from the Cruise’s Breakfast Buffet.

I save those Publishers Clearing House-type fliers that come in the mail and let the kids open them and play with the stickers. I cut out pictures of puppies and robots from magazines and tape them on the fridge. I snuck home 2 extra party favor bags from the last wedding shower I attended. Someone reminiscing at work last week made one of those “M*A*S*H” paper games and I asked if I could take it home and show the kids.

Sure, I buy them shoes, make them take vitamins, and worry about them crossing the street. But for me, the real parent moments come at times when I least expect it.