Question for the Day

A question:
Having children changes us. But how so? Does it make us become even more ourselves, or do we grow further away from our innermost starting point? And in striving to become more selfless, do we become more ourselves? Do you still recognize your Self after having children?

I know my own answer to this--if anything, I'm more myself since having children. But in some ways, some days feel it's an out-of-body experience where I watch myself and think, "Who is she? What is she doing?" I feel like a more capable, efficient, and somehow also more neurotic, emotional version of myself. And with how complex the Self is, I think some facets of ourselves that existed since we were born come into the light only when outer circumstances (or strong internal desire) prompt revealing. I know that some of the changes I've made in myself are purely out of a desire to reshape myself. Not that I feel I'm the wrong shape. :) But I have started to notice those more destructive thoughts or behaviors. And I think it's becoming more important to me to defeat those. So perhaps that's why I sometimes don't recognize myself. I think that the absolute truth is that I'm just getting to know myself. Maybe our actual selves never change, but our perception of ourselves is the thing that changes.