I've noticed lately that I do (or fail to do) a whole lot of things that I promised myself I would never do (or actually do) as a parent. And you know what? I don't even care--that's the beauty of it. I'm sure it means that I'm growing and learning and maturing. Either that or I'm becoming more and more apathetic.
So what are these things? Here's my list--see if you have any to add.
Thought: My kids' faces would NEVER be dirty in public. Is it that hard to wipe off their faces?
Lesson Learned: Yes, yes it is. Every face wipe is a huge battle and 10 seconds later it's dirty again with who knows what.
Thought: My kids wouldn't wear things like a tutu to the store or army pants, rain boots, and a plaid shirt.
Lesson Learned: If that's the only way you can get them out of the house without a fight, then I don't care what they wear.
Thought: My kids wouldn't throw huge tantrums in the store--I would have better control than that.
Lesson Learned: My, I was an idiot.
Thought: My kids' hair (especially my girls') would always look cute, they would not be the one who is in public with unbrushed hair.
Lesson Learned: Sometimes when you're trying to get out the door in a specific time frame, you no longer care about certain things. Do they have clothes on? Check. Shoes? Check. We're ready to go.
Thought: I am going to be a fun, super energetic mom. I will play games with my kids until they are tired of playing them. I will outlast them.
Lesson Learned: I obviously didn't know how tiring being a mom really is.
And my personal favorite...
Thought: I would never raise my voice to my kids. I have more patience than that.
Lesson Learned: Once again, I was an idiot.
13 comments:
Haha, I have those same thoughts but I'm glad you learned they were tougher than we both thought before me :)
Life lessons for sure. I think my greatest lesson was to never say never. Sigh.
Amen! A couple of months ago we put a new young girl in as a partner teacher for the sunbeams class. We noticed she wasn't coming all of the time, so the president asked her what was going on. Her response? She didn't like the partner teacher because she thought she was too mean to the kids. She said that she yelled at them and, "it isn't right to yell at 3 year olds." When this story was related to all of us (mothers) in the presidency meeting we all looked at each other and said, "Yeah--who would do that?!!"
I have also learned those lessons and much more... :) Please please please steal him, ASAP! You are such a great friend!! I will be in Reno the 23rd will you still be around. If not, STAY!
amen! I have started many a sentences with "when I'm a mom, my kids won't...."
but pretty much every sentence that I said i just laugh at now!
Here, here!
That is a great post. I think until anyone is a mom and is stressed they realize what an idiot any of us were to think we would do it different. It always looks so much easier from the outside then we become mothers and go into survivial mode.
When I'm a mom my house will always be cleaned and I won't let my kids drag their toys around the house.
Lesson learned: I'm an idiot too! :)
Your thoughts and lesson's learned are pretty much identical to mine. Nice to know I'm not alone.
I'm so jealous that you're not finding out the sex! I really wanted it to be a surprise but I hate yellow and my husband said he'd buy everything in yellow. In other words, he wanted to know. So yeah, I caved... I'm so excited for you though!
Your thoughts and lessons are similar to mine. It is amazing the things that soon become a priority when you are a parent (especially a parent of a very independent preschooler and/or toddler).
Sooo true! Good thing I have boys and can just shove a hat on their head or shave their heads and not worry about the hair. Here's for hoping for a boy! :)
This is Amy Sellers from our old ward in Apollo. I came across your blog recently and have loved reading it. Your posts always make me laugh...and feel better about eating my own words! Amen to all of it!
Love it! Funny thing is, I still think that I'm going to be the exception...I'll just wait few more years and I'm sure I'll be writing this exact same thing. I love your creative entries!!
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