Parenting. It's the process of taking care of your children until they're old enough to take care of themselves, and it's probably the hardest job you can do. In the play The Fantasticks, two fathers with a talent for gardening sing the song "Plant a Radish," in which they compare the unpredictability of raising children to the certainty of planting vegetables. The fathers had created an elaborate plan to make their children fall in love, but their children's unpredictable behavior forced the plan to fail, leaving the fathers to question the task of raising children. Likewise, I have seen my parents struggle with the uncertainty of parenthood and how it affects more than just the parent-child relationship. When a child is born, a new life is brought into the world. Not a radish, a carrot or a beanstalk, but a child. I was born on December 21, 1994, just two years after my parents got married. It was a new experience for the two of them, and I'm sure they were both nervous and excited. Only two years later my brother was born and two years later my sister. Three new lives put in their hands to transform into productive people who could help society. However, just like the fathers of the Fantasticks, I'm sure my parents questioned the certainty of the children they were raising. In The Fantasticks the two boys, Matt and Luisa, compulsively change their minds about the love they share for each other. They begin to notice each other's flaws and end up feuding, leaving their respective fathers in complete and utter disbelief. Fathers question the entire role of parenting. They begin to wonder why children aren't as reliable as a vegetable and why they have... half the paper... or some form of change. It is therefore up to us to accept that change and face it, rather than acting unpredictably, as Matt and Luisa did. This isn't to say that we should all turn into vegetables and grow them so predictably that every parent knows exactly what they're going to get at all times. We would be a bunch of boring people without any kind of individuality. The individuality that Matt and Luisa had is what made them unique and they fell in love with each other. Their problem was managing their situation. I say we all become unique; I say we all grow in our own way, but in a predictable way. A way we can be ourselves and be understood at the same time. We just want to be ourselves without having to explain who we are. Matt and Luisa found out who they were at the end of the show. If those two kids can do it, then anyone can do it.