“Children learn to smile from their parents.” – Shinichi Suzuki
I am a mum of two children, I have a son who is 7 and a daughter who is 5. I started writing this post with the intention to share all of the wonderful things that happen when you become a parent and although there are SO many amazing things that do happen I wouldn’t feel 100% authentic not talking about some of the struggles with some lighthearted humour.
So here is a list of the first 30 things that came to my mind about my experience with parenting so far.
I hope you enjoy and let me know if you can relate to any 😊
1. If you were sensitive about the ads encouraging you to donate money to help children in third world countries before be prepared to be EXTRA sensitive now. It doesn’t just stop with AD’s its everything. TV shows, movies, articles, sad endings, happy endings, literally if there is any sort of emotion involved it’ll hit you 20 times harder than it did before. 2. Poo becomes a regular conversation starter. 3. You are no longer “cool” and the harder you try the more embarrassing you become. 4. There will be times when you can see yourself expanding your family with another child and other times when you will weigh up the option of whether you advertise your children on eBay for a fixed price or wait to see what best offer you get. 5. You miss child free nights out but when you do get the opportunity to go out you’re exhausted and ready for bed by 8pm. 6. You’ll skip through your favourite department store to get straight to the kid’s section because any money you could spend on yourself is better spent on them. 7. You will find yourself continuing to watch cartoons long after your children have left 8. When your children are younger leaving the house involves the same amount of preparation as packing to go overseas. 9. You wait until late at night to throw away the thousands of scribble drawings your child guilt tripped you into putting on your fridge. 10. Your negotiating skills become so advanced that you could settle any dispute better than the highest paid lawyer. 11. There is a high chance that the things you love will be destroyed. 12. You crave a sleep in but when the opportunity comes up you wake up early anyway. 13. You will laugh more than you ever had before. 14. If your child is going to say something inappropriate it will almost always be in public. 15. You will need to go back to school to be able to help your children with their homework. 16. You’ll find yourself saying the things you used to hate hearing your parents say and vowed to never say to your children. 17. Time seems to accelerate at triple the speed. 18. Washing, drying, folding and cleaning will feel like it will never end (and it won’t) 19. Work becomes your sanctuary. 20. Chaos becomes normal. 21. Children teach you patience that you never thought was possible. 22. The excitement of Christmas you experienced as a child all comes back when you have your own children. 23. Children have a natural radar to start acting up when you’re on the phone, especially when it’s an important conversation. 24. If you have more than one child, it’s almost impossible to have a day where all your children are happy. 25. You will find yourself reaching for your phone to take a photo before helping your child out of an awkward spot. 26. There is no better noise than the sound of your children laughing. 27. There are times where you will be convinced your child is a genius and other times when you accept that they may still be living with you when they’re 40. 28. As soon as your breakfast, lunch or dinner is ready your child will need to go to the toilet. 29. Repeating yourself 50+ times a day is totally normal. 30. You’ll be able to relate to the fierce behaviour you see when someone gets too close to a mumma bears cubs. There’s nothing in the world you wouldn’t do to protect your little ones and there is simply no love comparable to the love you have you have for your babies no matter how old they are.
Thanks for reading! ☮