I know I haven’t been an easy child

I know I haven’t been an easy child,
But love for you lies underneath my whims;
There is no way I could be tame or mild:
I need sometimes to shout and wave my limbs.
You’re the wall I need to test my height,
The countervailing force to test my strength,
The chain I hammer at with all my might,
Even though you have increased its length.
It’s tough, I know, to be both Mom and Dad,
To raise me all alone, just hit or miss;
To have to play at once good cop and bad,
And give me grief before my goodnight kiss.
But love against the odds is stronger still:
I need your fierce, proud love, and always will.