What I didn't know until I had children

meritaten

forgot to say - with first child you strive to be the 'perfect parent'. you read all the books and you take your HVs advice as if it was the word from 'upon high'. with second or third child you realise that the child hasn't read the parenting books and the HVs are not the font of all wisdom - and you resort to instinct. and knowing your child. and also knowing that you can do your best but, your child is its own person.

skintchick

meritaten wrote: »

forgot to say - with first child you strive to be the 'perfect parent'. you read all the books and you take your HVs advice as if it was the word from 'upon high'. with second or third child you realise that the child hasn't read the parenting books and the HVs are not the font of all wisdom - and you resort to instinct. and knowing your child. and also knowing that you can do your best but, your child is its own person.

I never listened to anything my HVs said. Maybe I was lucky but I trusted my instincts from pregnancy onwards.

Mine would be: that almost everything can be done one-handed.

Top_Girl

How wonderful having a wee without anyone wanting to have a conversation with you is...

pigpen

meritaten wrote: »

forgot to say - with first child you strive to be the 'perfect parent'. you read all the books and you take your HVs advice as if it was the word from 'upon high'. with second or third child you realise that the child hasn't read the parenting books and the HVs are not the font of all wisdom - and you resort to instinct. and knowing your child. and also knowing that you can do your best but, your child is its own person.

My first HV was a prize goose.. her first question was.. 'did you experience a lot of pain giving birth?'

Let's just say she didn't get to say much more and I never saw her again.

jakes-mum

How many of my mums sayings would come out of my mouth!

How much mess a child can make and how many toy storage boxes I would have to buy :eek:

How many 'things' you have to attend at school, I must be there every week for something or other they have planned

That I could deal with snot, phlegm and vomit without wanting to throw up.

That I'd happily spend a fortune on a bigger bed rather than have a sick child sleep in their own room.

That paper with splodges of paint and a few irregularly cut pieces of paper glued on would live on my fridge, never to be removed but gradually covered up with each new piece of artwork brought home

gs1967

That teenage boys really are like 'Kevin the teenager'

But, their best friends will think you are the coolest mum ever;)

gs1967

jackieblack wrote: »

What I didn't know, and was totally blown away by, was realising how much my parents loved me, based on how I felt about my baby.

Of course, now she's a teenager, I know how my parents felt about me when I was a teenager too :rotfl:


Also, being a parent of a teenager, you also learn a whole new language and new meanings for words that you previously thought meant something completely different!

And this, you realise that your parents love you much more than you love them

MarilynMonroe_2

I didnt know how responsible I really was and am not actually laid back like I thought!

MarilynMonroe_2

mucklebones wrote: »

I never knew complete silence could be so pleasurable.

This! I recently let my daughter have a lollipop for the first time, thats' 20 MINUTES SILENCE... 20 MINUTES!!!!!:j:j

MarilynMonroe_2

ky822000 wrote: »

I once read that however squeamish you are, once you become a parent you will hold your hands out to catch your own child.s vomit - I'm a believer now!

Oh definitly, I was always one to be sick if I saw sick, but somehow its different, and my daughter always managed to get it right down my top, not down the back like others say and its amazing how long you can actually just leave the sick there before you get a minute to clean yourself up, sometimes hours :rotfl: