You always want to make sure your kids are safe – you put them in car seats, make sure they hold your hand as they cross the street, get them vaccinated and warn them of the many dangers of the world.

I have always been very overprotective of my children – almost to a fault. Always vigilant about where they are and what they are doing, I read up on the many hazards that are out there.

And there are plenty of cautionary tales to be found, for sure. From tragic, impossible-seeming accidents such as a toddler drowning in a bucket to harrowing stories of abductions and dog maulings. These stories seem much more commonplace due to the nature of the internet – allowing people to broadcast worldwide news of the dangers lurking everywhere, just waiting to happen to your family.

So it certainly should come as no surprise that, one day last month, when I heard that my son, Jacob, had a tick stuck in his back, my initial reaction was one of dread – everyone has heard of lyme disease and its terrible toll on the life of someone who has contracted it (thanks to the web). I felt somewhat helpless, as my knowledge of ticks and the dreaded disease was limited to “doomsday” stories of people who became very ill with a disease that could, at times, be deadly.

I called our pediatrician’s office and had my fears put to rest. The nurse who answered informed me that they don’t even worry about lyme disease unless the tick has been on a person for at least 48 hours, and even not then.

“It’s going to be fine,” she assured me. “You don’t have anything to worry about.” Easier said than done, and I didn’t feel better until he had the tick removed at the office.

As a parent, I find myself to no longer have a heart on the inside. My heart now skips alongside me on the way to the store, waits patiently (or not so patiently) in line for the school bus, wears school colors proudly while cheering at sporting events or giggles about Spongebob’s most recent trials and tribulations in Bikini Bottom.

I have never felt such love or joy as when one of my children snuggles into my side while watching a movie, proudly achieves something new or chatters excitedly about their day.

That joy is coupled with the knowledge that my happiness lives with them; that their happiness is more important than mine. Suddenly, I am much more vulnerable, as a parent, than I was before I had children. When they hurt, I hurt for them. When they are happy, I am happy.

Now, I don’t want to seem that I am living life through them. I have friends, hobbies and spend plenty of time pursuing my own goals. I work, I play and live my own life.

But living is much sweeter knowing that it is a life shared with my family. We enjoy our time together, and therefore have had our lives enriched because our time on earth is shared with the ones we love – something that one certainly doesn’t have to have children to feel. Time is short, so I try to make each day count – to live each day to its fullest potential. I think, by doing so, I am setting an example for my children, one they will bring with them as they go through their education and form their own families.