In a move partially inspired by writer’s block, and partially by a desire to write something positive which would reassure prospective and expectant parents, I posted a question on both my Twitter and my Facebook last night – and the following are just some of the great responses I received.
The question I asked was this: “Name some nice things you have learnt from being a parent” – in other words, things you would never have known if you hadn’t had children.
The responses really varied – some were amusing, some extremely heart-felt but all of them were brilliantly honest. So I decided to compile some of the best ones in to a post, to share with you all. I’d love to know your own responses in the comments, if they haven’t already been covered!
Without further ado, here are the responses I got. Enjoy!
Louise Thomson said…
The total overwhelming feeling of love and protection and being in awe of someone do tiny, so precious and so dependent on you. How amazing it is to learn. Watching alex’s face and hearing him when he has understood something or learnt to do something new is amazing. And I’m also quite amazed by my ability to have almost memorised the entire hot wheels car range so that I never buy the same one twice! My memory was never this good at school!
Mandy Desouza said…
Unconditional love – giving and receiving!
Neil Allison said…
You can get to the front of the queue without paying for speedy boarding when flying with Easyjet
Jo Tate said…
If it wasn’t for having my own kids and getting a job in their school because the hours suited. I wouldn’t have discovered my love for working full time supporting children with special needs.
Blogger Mediocre Mum said…
Being a parent saves money on stand up comics – I’m in stitches most days!
Anna Rafferty said…
how utterly and completely your parents really love(d) you.
Blogger FionaF77 said…
That they think I look most beautiful when they’ve painted my face as a zombie! That another’s happiness can genuinely, and on a daily basis, mean more than your own but without feeling resentment or sacrifice! Plus, Horrible Histories!
Rebecca Thorne said…
I’ve learned a lot about family values and how important your family are and because of that it’s bought our family closer
Kieron Matthews said…
Total reliance but you don’t mind because you love them.
Shirley Buchan said…
I wouldn’t have known…how to play scrabble on the iPad in the middle of the night to keep me awake when feeding him; how many different types of poo there are; how proud you can be of a baby blowing a raspberry; how much inner strength you can find to cope with anything, especially when you are tired.
Christine Fairweather said…
I did not know until today, when my grandson told me, that thunder, was in fact “clouds fighting “…you have to be a parent in order to hear these gems
Sara Elliss said…
How much time EVERYTHING takes with a child/children in tow. How much of a blessing internet shopping would become. How a cute smile and giggle can melt your bad mood away. How reliant they are on you. How embarrassing they can be in front of other people. How beautiful they are when they’re asleep :) And that playing is more important than tidying!
Morgan Lloyd Malcolm said…
How excited and proud a poo with easily recognisable pieces of food in it can make you. How heart melting it is when they first start reaching their arms up to you when they want to be picked up by you and cuddled. But the main thing I have learnt was that I now completely understand why my mum had such a strict regime of getting me to bed by 8pm even when I wasn’t tired… I used to think it was so harsh and mean considering you could usually hear other kids outside still playing. However I now know it meant she had evenings to herself. Needless to say I am now repeating history…
Ben Ayers said…
That they help you form new relationships with people through commonality. They are great ‘connectors’
Joseph Finel said…
child can eat almost 3 serv of spaghetti, 4 pcs of bread, spumoni ice cream, a small milk & be hungry in the car home!
Bill Holden said…
That fossil hunting is awesome, Snails are amazing and we have all got superpowers
David Owens said…
How easy play dough is to make, and you still get the smell. How much fun throwing various bits of flotsam and stones into water is; How much imagination is stored inside every human being, you just need to search. What an annoying prick mickey mouse is, how difficult plurals are to master. How difficult everything is that we take for granted, like getting dressed (did you know it takes a computer 11 million different commands to make a robot hand open a door handle? A child does!); How amazing a book is to a kid, how cool pound shops are, the importance of pets for someone to express love, friendship and experience grief. How magical Christmas is; How difficult to explain everything is. Unquenchable thirst for knowledge is draining for a parent. How magical and frightening everything is when first seen, the absolute joy to be had by digging a hole or paddling on a beach. Almost everything is different experiences when it is done for a child.
Jamie Dixon said…
How good a glass of wine can taste when they are in bed
Hannah Mold said…
That the things you give up for them don’t feel like a sacrifice… and that you will spend the rest of your life amused by the silly things they come up with “mummy I can’t smell that barbecue because I have air up my nose”!!
Catherine Boyce said…
How kids are a great excuse to play with toys – and buying them what you would like to see Christmas day aswell! Unconditional love and how they make you laugh saying silly things!
Anna Scrivenger said…
How highly small kids prize your company and conversation. And the endless patience and tolerance you develop over months and months of incessant pestering! A whole day free to spend with your kids is the cheapest form of heaven. The soft twilight cuddles when they’re all sleepy in their little beds. How lovely their hair smells in the sunshine. The hilarious things they all say and do and the little unique mannerisms they develop. How weird unforeseen hobbies and fixations can swoop in from nowhere (Inigo has a Superman obsession despite never, to my knowledge, having seen or otherwise encountered Superman).- Anna Scrivenger
Gavin Lazarus said…
Cuddles from your little ones are like nothing else on earth. Some of the words they use I prefer to the real ones. Two of my favourites have been ‘cow patch’ for ketchup and ‘boseynoke’ for ‘bogey-nose’ Of course the older they get, the more you reacquaint yourself with simple pleasures you knew in your youth but have somehow forgotten in the pressure cooker of adult life. Having children can be a great reboot for the imagination and the dormant fun, creative person within us because there is nothing children like more than straight ahead silliness!
Blogger Wendy McAuliffe said…
The morning smiles that your child has for you – three years on, there’s still nothing quite like it. Mummy or Daddy cuddles when your child is unwell. Absorbing the immense need that they have for you and no one else makes everything so worthwhile. Your child’s ability to imitate you. You are their number one role model. Your eccentricities and quirky patterns of speech will soon be exposed! The early stages of mark making, and observing the beginnings of them learning to write is a fascinating stage of development. The overwhelming sense of achievement when your child sleeps through the night for the first time. Odeon Kids Club – £2.50 for you both to see a movie. What a bargain! Salad is completely pointless, as any young child will tell you!
Blogger Hannah Smith said…
The Gruffalo – and subsequetly all Julia Donaldson books. I didn’t have a clue about Julia or her books before I had kids because I didn’t tend to skulk around the children’s books departments in Waterstones (obviously). Even after Ed was born, and a friend bought Ed one of those china mug and bowl sets (totally pointless for a newborn btw and wtf) my only thought was “Oh great! Lets terrify the kid on his very first weaning experience in a few months with a terrifying MONSTER on his bowl! Lets make him association eating food with sheer horror!”. It wasn’t until a teacher friend of mine bought Ed “The Gruffalo” book as a gift and I sat down and read it to him that I got a bit misty eyed and thought…where has this woman been all my life? (probably in the children’s department of Waterstones). We even found the actual Stick Man in our garden one spring morning, which is a sign that Julia Donaldson books are all based on truth and real creatures and magic exists in the world. Also, that my body could grow an entire new person. I mean, how mental is THAT?! That my body can grow a baby. I can not even grow a bunch of carrots, but a baby? Turns out, yes I can. Making a baby is creating hope. This new being can do anything they want to and their paths are unmapped and free. This little person (who came from someone who has made mistakes and who has done nice things and also, invariably not, done some not very nice things) is completly fresh and brand new.