Gosh, sometimes I wish I could have kicked the ‘me’ before kids.

We all know those memes that joke about before we became parents or advice from people without kids. Then you realize you were once “that” person, you have to just laugh at yourself….. and say ‘ag shame’…. if only I knew.

WHEN I HAVE KIDS…

• My kids won’t take over my whole life – Little did I know…. my kids are my life, I don’t think I have lost myself to them. But they are the first little ones I think of when decision-making
• My husband and I will still go out on dates – girllllll, nahhh we are tired. We prefer to Netflix and chill.
• I won’t gain weight – I wish this one was true. Damn I need to shed these pounds. But I do love my mom body and no hate on it. It gave me my two kids.
• I won’t spend all my money on buying baby clothes – where has all my money gone? He he
• There won’t be toys all over my house – I now shop for decor at Toys R us… let’s just leave it there.
• My hobbies won’t go out the window – I used to paint, draw and scrapbook, during my pregnancy I felt so ill, and not inspired, so I got out the habit. But I still love to paint (watch this space).\
• We wont go to those reaturants with playareas – oh how the tides have turned

I do regret shaking my head and raising my eyebrows and judging moms, scoffing at them in the malls with their unruly toddlers throwing a fit.

Fast forward…. and there is me in the aisle, toddler throwing it down, and inside I smile.

Why… well this just means I am a parent now, this comes part in parcel with the package.

My Kids will never

• Tell me what to watch on TV, it ours not theres – cartoons are basically life.
• Watch Barney or have anything purple dinosaur in our home – little did other parents tell you, that you might be watching Barney long after your kid has lost interest and left the room.
• Reject the food I give them and finish their food – all I can say my toddler is an apt negotiator and as stubborn as an ox!
• My kids won’t wear commercial characters – cue… Elsa, well thats really it, cause I still hold the buying power (so I am still kinda winning here).

And well that is all I could think of, I am a pretty chilled mom, I stuck to most of my guns. But if I could go back and chat to my “before parent” self, I would say this “you got this boo, you can do it. Don’t underestimate your skills, and the capacity to love. You may have been worried about how you would wake up early every day, you will. Your kids wont starve, even though your cooking skills are a bit sketchy. And they will love you madly, because you are their mom.”

What I would like to say to you reader, weather you are a long time mom, or expecting, know this, you will fail, you will succeed, don’t be hard on yourself if you give in to things you decided on before you became a parent, with all thought we knew it all. Trust your way, you know how to parent, and never say never. Life is too short to keep yourself on a short leash, live, have fun and enjoy the moments with your littles. You won’t be worring about the crayon on the wall when they are adults.

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