The things people don’t tell you about being a parent… but should!

When you are pregnant you are so busy planning the nursery, and buying clothes that you never really stop to think about everything else.  The everything else as in what happens after you have a baby.  The everything else as in your life will never be the same.  There is really no way to prepare to become a parent, you can read all the books, and take the classes but at the end of the day nothing will prepare you.  It really is a learn-as-you-go thing, or on the job training you could call it.  I remember friends and family members telling us to enjoy being just the two of you while you still can.  My favorite friendly words of advice we received was get all the sleep you can now because you will not sleep after the baby comes.  How can that be?  How will we just not sleep after the baby arrives?  Babies sleep 21 hours of the day at first, how hard can that be?  Just sleep when the baby sleeps right?  NO!  There are the feedings, which leads to changing the diapers, changing clothes, bathing, burping, and the laundry… my gosh the laundry!  How does one tiny baby require two loads of laundry a day?

Should we not tell our friends the things about being a parent that are how should I say less than appealing?  Never in your life will you talk about poop as much as when you have a child.  What color was the poop, was it runny?  When was the last poop?  How many times has the baby gone poop today?  These are all conversations that will happen everyday!  Lack of sleep is at the top of the list, fighting with your spouse about something you never cared about before, and at the same time taking care of an entirely helpless baby.  It really doesn’t matter if you are the mother or the father.  The mother is home with the baby all day and wants a break when the husband walks through the door.  The husband has been at work all day and just wants to come home and relax.  This is where the fighting comes into play, sometimes I would just be mad and not even know why I was upset, when really I think I was just tired.  I once went to work with less than an hour of sleep, somehow your body makes it work.  At the end of the day is it worth it?  If you are a parent then you undoubtably know the answer is yes!   We can choose to share the great things about being a parent, a hug, a kiss, your child telling you they love you or just the sound of their laugh.  Our son is now 5 and I still love to hear him laugh.  Being a parent isn’t easy, no one gets it 100% right 100% of the time, just do your best and teach them to be polite and respectful little people.  They will thank you for it when they are older.  Special thanks to my mom who is celebrating her birthday this week and has been fighting cancer for the last 6 months.  Love you mom and happy birthday!