14 Best Kept Secrets in Parenting

1. 

I never knew that when I was fighting with my mom over something that I wanted to do/say/have/spit on/watch/whatever, and she was being so calm and collected on saying NO!, that she had a very tired voice deep inside telling her "The hell with it - just let her! Man, she can be annoying/loud/persuasive". 

2. 

When your kid has bad dreams and keeps you up all night, you can get through the day by drinking 5 cups of coffee, a hug from before mentioned kid and by doing something that you have been trying to avoid doing in a really long time. The sheer adoration with yourself will get you through the day. 

3.

When your co-parent has to leave town  and you don't know how to do it all alone, you pick a show on Netflix or the like that you really want to see, and watch it at night when the kids are asleep. I promise you - it'll get you through those long afternoons to have something to look forward to.

4.

Find another parent that share your take on parenting. It will keep you sane to send texts like “am I a bad parent if I start drinking wine at 10am?” You won’t do it, but it helps to text it.

5.

When you like your child the least, make him laugh. It will reset everything.

6.

Those first months of confusion, exhaustion and desperation will be completely forgotten by the time your child sleeps through the night. I know, because it just happened to me last weekend. For the first time. He's 2.5 years old.

7.

Loosing a beloved day care teacher will feel worse than the heartache you felt when some boy with blonde hair and blue eyes broke your heart, when you were 15 years old. 

8.

You finally understand your parents and what they went through

9.

Saying goodbye to one of your child’s friends because she’s moving away will be so hard! Not because your son is particularly sad (he’ll hardly notice she’s gone, because he gets to FaceTime her), but because it’s so bloody hard to find kids that YOU like and that you’ll want as your kid’s friend. Most kids aren’t that special, to be honest. And some kids are really weird.

10.

You will fantasize about arguing (loudly, using really bad words) with the parents of that boy who bit your child, even though you totally get it from a developmentally point of view.

11.

You’ll do things like travel without your kids, check into a hotel for the night or something else that’s a part of you life BK (Before Kids) and it’ll feel really weird. Not bad, just weird - like you left your right foot at home. 

12.

You’ll hold on to some baby behavior traits that you’re really supposed to teach your child to quit, just because you’re not ready to let go. I sometimes still take Hugo’s spoon and feed him the last couple of cheerios, helicopter style. It might get awkward when he turns 12, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.

13.

On those occasions when someone points out something that you are supposed to know as a parent at that given time, you’ll remember it for life. When Hugo was 6 months old, we went to an outdoor birthday party and my friend’s mom pointed out that Hugo wasn’t wearing enough clothes. “Look at all the other kids - they’re wearing big jackets and he’s in a sweater! He’s just a baby!”. I still cringe. 

14.

You WILL let your child watch tv and probably much sooner than you’re comfortable with. “When I was a kid, TV was a privilege, not a babysitter” - Yep, and it always snowed on Christmas Eve and everything was organic by default. Anne of Green Gables grew up and so shall you.