Having kids teaches you a lot about your parents

Alex is a pretty happy kid, but he has days when he's sad, tired and fussy. It's only to be expected, but when one of those days comes, I'm all aflutter, trying to find out why he's not his usual giggly self. Because he can't talk yet, I can't ask him what's wrong (though I do) and expect an answer. A couple of days ago, he had one of those days and I told my mom about it later on the phone.

Me "I HATE it when he's sad. It makes me feel so sad!"
Mom "I used to hate it when you were sad."
Me "And the worst is that I can't ask him what it is. I try all these things and nothing helps."
Mom "I know what you mean. That's why when you were sad, I used to bug you about what was wrong."
Me "Oh!"

Turns out she wasn't just bugging me for the hell of it.

What sad irony. We learn our parents' true intentions when we are no longer children.