Do we let them see?

The other day I came home from work quite upset. I walked in, quickly greeted everyone and immediately made my way to my room. Once there I collapsed on the bed face down, doing my best to hold back the tears. One by one my children slowly made their way into my room to see what was going on.

"Hi mom."
"Hi."
"Are you sick?"
"No."
"Are you mad?"
"No, not really."
"Are you sad?"
"Yeah, I'm sad."

At which point I start crying. I just couldn't hold it in any longer.

"It's going to be ok, I just need to cry for a minute. You don't have to worry, everything is going to be fine." I said as tears poured down my face onto an ever growing wet spot on the sheets.

The younger boys quietly left the room after a few minutes. But not Joshua, Joshua stayed by my side until I pulled myself together and got out of bed. He sat at the end of the bed the whole time, lovingly rubbing my foot. He is my warrior, my protector, my ever compassionate worry wart child, and I love him.

Fast forward a few days. The boys keep asking me questions. What made me so sad? Did someone hurt my feelings? Did someone hurt me? and so on. I can tell that they are concerned, worried even, and want to protect me.

And now I'm conflicted. Should children see us cry? Should we let our children see our vulnerable side? Is it healthy for them to see us as emotional beings who struggle? Should we share that life can be difficult sometimes?

I want to be a good parent, and feel like it's healthy for kids to know life has it's ups and downs but now my kids are worried and I'm conflicted.

I don't know what the answer is.