Your life changes when you become a parent. All of a sudden it’s not just you that you are responsible for, you become responsible for a whole other human (or more!) and the very axis your world revolves around tilts.
I am not the same person I was 6 years ago when I gave birth to my eldest son. Heck I’m not the same person I was when my (current) youngest was born 3 and a half years ago, and I’m sure I’ll change again in December when my third son arrives.
One thing for sure is, that these boys have taught me life lessons that I would never have realised otherwise.
There isn’t much that can’t be solved by a cuddle
Banged knee? Have a cuddle.
Feeling a little bit upset? Have a cuddle.
Having a bad day? Have a cuddle.
Your brother has taken your favourite toy? Cuddle for both of you.
For everything else, there’s Calpol
The miracle worker of all things ailing children. Otherwise known as the magic pink medicine.
The imagined is often worse that the reality
Dreading going on a flight with your children? Imagining multiple hours of crying, tantrumming, screaming and general tearing your hair out? Generally doesn’t happen, the imagined is worse than the reality.
The same when I put off bundling the kids up to take them to toddler group. Or to the shops. Or any other number of tasks that I often feel is monumental effort to do, when I actually do it, it’s never as bad as it seems.
You’ll never feel angry so quickly, or lose it just as fast
When you think you are so cross you might just explode, they do something that melts your heart and suddenly you’re not so cross. Or they make you laugh. Or smile. Or generally are just wonderful (see above cuddle!) and all of a sudden the future of the human race is once again restored.
The pride in someone else’s achievements
And not just the big things, the star of the week, the first steps, the toilet training. But the little things, the smile, the kind hand they hold out to their little brother, when they play nicely together.
I’ve been happy for other people’s major achievements, new jobs, new babies, marriages, but I’ve never realised pride in them until I had my children. To the extent that I will tell anyone that listens the minute details of each child’s latest achievements….
Sleep deprivation is the worst, but yet you keep on smiling
I mean the absolute pits. There is a reason that they use sleep deprivtion as a torture method. And here we are, with these little bundles of joy who are 100% reliant on us who are inflicting said torture method on us.
Yet somehow, day after day, hour after hour, of broken sleep. You get up, you get out and you somehow keep on going.
Sure the house might be a state, the dishes aren’t washed and you’re surviving on pizza. But the key note is that you are surviving!
You’ll never be so in love
I mean I love my husband but nothing could have prepared me for the unconditional love I feel for my children.
More than that, how my heart was able to grow, expand, and encapsulate even more love as our family grows.
It’s a feeling like no other I’ve ever experienced, and one that is impossible for me to put into words.
