How little people actually think about and plan for parenthood before they become parents!

Anonymous wrote:How many decisions there are to be made while parenting and how hard it is. Am I being too hard on her? Am I not being hard enough? Do I push on this or let it go? And you second guess yourself all the time.

When I was growing up, I thought my parents just made up a bunch of rules or decided based on their whims at the moment, but they probably put a lot of thought into things and there were a lot of things they thought about that I wasn't privy to.

YES! The constant thinking "is she being rude because I've done a bad job?" or "is this a phase, or do I need to discipline this out of her?" or "am I crushing her feisty spirit?" and "am I teaching her how to be kind?" and on and on.

Constantly re-evaluating and wondering if I'm on the right path or need an adjustment.

How once you are a parent i always think about kids even when they are in college. Im always going to be mom until i die.

I love being a mom but never thought about it being forever.

Why parents seemed so tired all of the time. Now I know why.

Are used to judge a particular set of friends who held naptime sacrosanct. Now I have a kid who completely hits a wall and melts down without her nap. Karma.

I'm further down the chain (HS kids) and it's cliche to say kids grow up so fast, but they really do once they hit a certain age. Time goes on warp speed once the kid hits sixth grade. Buckle up. Before you know it, they are in 10th grade signing up for driver's ed and college looms on the horizon. 6th-10th grade goes by in the blink of an eye!

That parents don't know everything and that there is no manual. We are all just making this up as we go along.

That the kid you get is the kid you get. There is a baseline personality in there that has nothing to do with how they are being raised.

That it is really, really hard. I cringe at the judgment I passed on parents before I had kids. Wish I could go back and tell myself to STFU because parenting is relentless and so hard.

How many decisions there are to be made while parenting and how hard it is. Am I being too hard on her? Am I not being hard enough? Do I push on this or let it go? And you second guess yourself all the time.

When I was growing up, I thought my parents just made up a bunch of rules or decided based on their whims at the moment, but they probably put a lot of thought into things and there were a lot of things they thought about that I wasn't privy to.

How damn hard it is, how much of yourself you lose, how much sacrifice you have to make, how much society judges you as a mom (I think this was not as bad for our parents though), how frustrating and infuriating the "clueless dad" thing is.

Anonymous wrote:That so many adults are really childish. And that we have very high expectations of children but not of adults.

+1

And as far as the wedding thing goes, support systems go a long way and not everyone has them.

You know those idyllic moments in movies where the sun is shining and the kid is laughing in slow motion....you get to have those and they are wonderful.

The way their little hands feel on your face and in your hand.

That you make a choice to be a better person and work on your flaws so that your kids dont inherit generations of pain/neglect/tempers/etc. And you also learn that not everyone makes that conscious choice.

1. That “never wake a sleeping baby” is literally the most true statement ever made

2. That “sleeping like a baby” is the most ironic simile ever

How much you can love someone and how much my well being can be affected by how my child is doing. I now have a lot to lose, whereas before I didn't really care that deeply about anything.

1. How much FUN having your own kids is. Everyone talked about how hard it is, but not how fun.
2. That parents don’t really know what we are doing, but our kids assume we do. I assumed my parents would always know what to do. It’s scary to think my kids assume that of me.

Anonymous wrote:I’ve become more acutely aware of how selfish and neglectful one of my parents was.

THIS one for me as well. I also used to judge the cleanliness of my friends' houses with babies/toddlers. I have this house now and completely get this!!!!

That sleep deprivation is torture.