'Spaw - judging by (my perceptions of)the tone of the above, I would have to say you DO consider parenting to be sacred....it is quite evidently more then a job to you. (But I think I also understand what you mean when you say "It's the job")

I have been very lucky. I am part of the "village" for a large number of young people, including 13 nieces and nephews. I am proud and honored to have been a part of their upbringing, and do not feel in any way that their parents have failed because they have shared their children with me. [The last said only because I DID have a couple express to me the thought that they had "failed" their child because he was so much more responsive in public to me then to them] Until very recently an inter-connected network of friends and relatives was the norm rather then the exception in child-rearing. My "extended" family crosses the continent. Thankfully, modern communication and transportation have allowed me to be a part of these youngsters lives, and for them to be a part of mine.