Selfish parenthood

I found our class discussion yesterday very interesting. While talking about fulfillment and achieving goals, it was briefly mentioned that no act is selfless because even the act of doing good is rewarding. I began to think about how people feel that they are selfless when volunteering. I believe that this is still a selfish act because the volunteer gains a good feeling. Don’t get me wrong, I strongly agree with helping everyone and giving back to the community, but I wish that people would see that this is also a selfish act. There is no way to remove oneself from gaining feelings of reward and pride. And going along with our example of a mother fulfilling her purpose by assisting her son to be successful, I feel that the mother is being selfish by fulfilling her purpose not solely her sons. This made me think of how once my dad said that having children was the most rewarding thing he has ever done. I feel that even though parents give up so much for their children to grow and prosper, the intention is somewhat selfish because it ultimately results in a feeling of pride. Parents of successful children are proud of their kid’s accomplishments and feel rewarded for raising those children. I guess the act of raising children entails both selfish and selfless acts because parents have to make many sacrifices in order to raise good people. But still the mother feels a sense of completion and both parents are rewarded by having children.