Lessons from the Trenches of Parenthood

The other day as I was tidying the house for some impending guests, which involved removing a basketball from the bathroom, relocating a caravan of toy trucks from beneath the dining room table, and emptying ping pong balls from most of the shoes in the entryway, I found myself reflecting on some of the things I’ve learned since becoming a parent 18 months ago.

1. They put those “Keep out of reach of children” warnings on medications, because when a baby is crying, parents look around frantically, wanting to hand the little one anything that might stop the crying.
2. Babies speak their own language. Recently at the park, I was feeling quite proud that my son and I were conversing. Then I looked at the mom next to me and realized that we weren’t using any actual words. They were all words my son had made up : gagoom (park), ga ga (dog), nana (food), na-nome (book), gin gin (bath), etc.
3. Babies will eat almost anything they find on the floor. And if it resembles food or if it once did, like a day-old apple slice or dust-covered Wheat Thin, most parents will shrug it off. Maybe it’s the sleep deprivation. Or maybe, we know it could be worse. My friend was at a fast-food restaurant several years ago and looked up to see his two-and-a-half-year-old licking the garbage can.
4. If you get the feeling that you’ve gotten this parenting thing down and might be a candidate for Mother or Father-of the-Year, the next day, you will invariably be near tears by lunch time, feel hopelessly incompetent, and want to beg your partner (or the mailman) to come take over.
5. If it’s your partner who’s having the above kind of day, you’ll have a hard time understanding what could possibly be so hard, forgetting the many times you’ve felt exactly the same way.
6. Kids grow up fast. And having kids means you have to repeat that cliche over and over again.

Your turn. Are you a parent? What have you learned from the experience?

(This post is for Steady Mom’s 30 Minute Blog Challenge.)