WHAT THEY DON'T TELL YOU ABOUT BEING A PARENT!

When you are a newlywed and thinking about the prospect of having kids, you often hear others say:

• "Are you guys going to have kids? They are such a blessing."
• "I love being a Mom. You will, too."
• "Babies are the best! They smell so good and they are just precious."
• "There is no greater joy than having a family."
• "Children are a gift from God."

While all of those statements are true, they don't point out the small print on the bottom of the contract:

• Children are at risk of death at every turn, so don't EVER take your eyes off of them!

• You will wake every 2 hours to feed or comfort your baby for the first 3-14 months.

• You may get a projectile puker.

• You will become one with poop and urine. It goes everywhere...eyes, hands, mouth, walls, sheets, etc...

• Your body is not your own anymore and it will never look the same again.

• Privacy is non-existent until the kids leave home.

• Forget date nights unless you want to dig into your savings.

• All those things you thought you could get done while your child sleeps? Yeah, right! You're gonna wanna a nap, too!

• You will have to plan everything around nap-times and bed-time.

• All those ideals you had to feed your child only healthy foods? Yeah, you are gonna end up feeding them whatever will keep them from starving to death! Don't think they won't try to starve rather than eat a carrot!!!  There are many more examples, but you get the idea.

THE REALITY:
Why don't people tell you the truth about raising kids? Because, if we knew, the human race would probably become extinct within a few decades! The truth is that kids are hard work, whether you have 1 or 19 and counting.

THE SACRIFICE:
You will have to sacrifice a lot for your kids, including, time, hobbies, careers, living space, passions, dreams and more. There is fighting, tantrums, ear piercing screams, yelling, throwing things, whining and crying... and that's just me! The kids add to that and more.

THE HOPE:
Before you go digging a grave for yourself in the back yard, let me encourage you that each phase of child rearing has plenty of great points, too. While no two families are alike and everyone struggles with different parenting issues, we can all agree that it is tough and that even the sanest of parents can be driven to the edge by child rearing. So, a little fore-warning wouldn't go amiss for newlyweds. I don't think you can ever be fully prepared to be a parent, but you can go into it with realistic expectations.

With all that being said, I truly love my kids and they bring me plenty of joy on a regular basis. They have fantastic personalities. Every parent finds joy amidst the chaos. I guess that's why we keep procreating and populating this planet. At least I would like to think that.

So what would I tell the next set of eager-to-be-parents?

"I love being a Mom. You will, too."
"Babies are the best! They smell so good and they are just precious."
"There is no greater joy than having a family."
"Children are a gift from God."

Written by Kristee Mays

 Check out this video called, 'The Mom's song'.