The cruelty of being a parent: contradiction between the love you feel, and the need to make them independent

This is something I've thought about for a while, but is hard to put into words. My kids are four and two.I realise that my job is to make my kids independent, so that they can be the best adults they can be by the time they leave home. But I don't want them to grow up, I don't want them to be independent, and I don't want them to leave.Don't get me wrong, this doesn't affect how I treat them. I know what I need to do. But it strikes me that there is a deep cruelty inherent in being a parent. I think about how I feel about my own parents and of course I love them, but not as much as I love my own kids. That's how my kids will feel about me when they're adults. It seems to be that the amount our children love us, want us, want to be around us, diminishes from toddlerhood and never, ever stops. I love them and care for them so much, more than they are destined to love and care about me.Do other parents feel this way? What do you do about it? Does it change as the kids get older (am I feeling this way because, at the ages they are now, they do need constant loving care from me)? via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2pOing8