The parenting picture suggests that you can measure the value of caring for children by measuring the value of the adults those children become. But rather than trying to reduce the value of caring for children to other values, we should simply appreciate that the relations between parents and children are unique. Those relations are, as philosophers say, intrinsically and not just instrumentally valuable. Caring for children is a good thing in itself, not just because it may lead to other good things in the future.
