They ask tough questions, build morale, combat injustice, doctor the wounded, encourage the troubled, and fight monsters under the bed, gathering and distributing essential resources, hatching battle plans, infiltrating enemy camps, and joining forces to increase their strength. They keep the faith, lift spirits, make do with less, negotiate with superiority, oppress when necessary, push the idle, quit rarely, struggle against adolescents, triumph over evil, usurp power and vanquish neighborhood bullies. They wage war even when weary, yell occasionally, and read bedtime stories all the way to the end. A parent isn’t awarded a purple heart, but a full one.