we know, I figured it was high time that I put up a blog post that actually contributes to the good of society. Well, even if it’s not going to earn me a nobel prize or anything, it will at least provide some helpful information to prepare some of those future parents out there.I wanted to put up a post of things that we wish we knew before we were parents but no one would told us. While this blog is not meant to scare any of you, please note that it is intended for mature audiences only and any of you that are squeamish at the thought of a dirty diaper or a 3am feeding should please scroll down, look at the pictures, and move on (I’m talking to you Nicole)!
Ok…on with the good stuff…
Here is a list of things that Michaela and I could come up with that we wish we knew before we were parents. They are ranked in no particular order, and all have earned a special place in our hearts.
1. Spit-Up is as bad, if not worse, than the diapers….I kid you not! Ok, the first diaper is really gross, but then they’re not too bad for a while…then they go on solid food and it’s bad again…but then you get used to it and it’s really no big deal. However, this whole time, you’ve got to deal with spit up. Sometimes it’s runny like skim milk, other times it’s thick like coffee cream. It almost always smells bad, and seems to stain even after you run your clothes through the laundry…and while there is this handy contraption called a diaper that protects you from those dirty deeds south of the mouth, there seems to never be a burp cloth handy when the spit up shows up! Did I mention you’re usually in your work attire and about to head out the door when it happens? I think the worst part about the whole thing is that people get you generally psyched up about the diaper changing, so when it finally happens you’re ready….this doesn’t happen for the spit-up, so it sort of sneaks up on you. I have heard that there are magical babies out there that don’t spit up….while you may be lucky and end up with one of those, I think it’s smart to prepare for the reality that your baby is going to be spewing on you for at least the first 6 months....the really bad sign is when you get spit up on but you're so tired that you just shrug it off and go to work anyways...been there, done that (and no, I'm not proud).
2. Sleeping through the night doesn’t mean what you think it means. First off, let me get one
thing off my chest here. Babies aren’t supposed to sleep through the night when they’re 3 months old, ok? It’s true that they might go through a short window of time where they do, but doctors insist that babies need the nutrients when they are that young, so parents that swear their babies are sleeping from 7pm to 7am are actually depriving their baby of food, and shouldn’t be admired. Now, after the baby is 8 or 9 months old, if they’re sleeping through the night, more power to you! But I would like to clarify something here...before we were parents, Michaela and I thought sleeping through the night meant that the baby went to bed at 7pm and slept soundly until we woke him up at 7am (give or take a few hours)….but that is not what sleeping through the night means when you have a kid…Sleeping through the night means more or less only having to wake up once or twice (let’s say at 12am and 3am for sake of argument) to comfort him or possibly feed him, but otherwise he isn’t overly fussy and doesn’t need to be awake. There really isn’t such a thing as going to sleep and not waking up before morning…that just doesn’t exist to us anymore…it’s like a foreign idea to think about. I’m sure at some point Landon will start sleeping soundly without waking up, but I have no idea when that will be…could be next week, could be in 4 years!3. Forget about being on time. This is coming from a worldclass, OCD-type, crazy man who equates being late to physical pain. It's just darn near impossible to get out of the house on time. You literally need to just pretend like whatever event you are going to is actually starting an hour early...and MAYBE then you'll be on time. The only problem is that there's just so much time in a day, and when you have an infant on a routine, finding an extra hour is pretty difficult to do. The best thing to do is just to resign yourself to the fact that you're going to be a few minutes late, and realize that most people will understand that you have a baby in tow and that you're doing your best. If they don't get it, then they don't have a baby.
4. Your house is toast. First it starts with the baby shower stuff...boxes upon boxes of onesies, and diapers, and everything you can think of to fill a nursery....then the baby actually comes and the house starts accumulating dirty dishes and clothes (I mean who has the time when you haven't slept in 4 days!)....then the kid can sit upright and move his arms, and that's when the toys start to show up on the radar....a few months pass and he's crawling and the toys are everywhere!! And no matter how fast you pick them up to put them away, he seems to put them right back where he left them...almost as if he was following right behind you and for every toy you picked up he put one down...like it's some kind of sick and twisted game. We try to clean our house a couple of times a week, but we're not kidding ourselves...we know that we're fighting a losing battle.
I actually think I might have a few more on the list, but I just realized that this post is WAAAY too long. So I think I'll call it a day for now.
For those of you that are pregnant or considering it, take these words to heart...hopefully they'll help prepare you for what's coming. The more you know....
Last thing...I wanted to post this video...it's Landon walking! It's a little choppy, and this was taken a few days ago, so he was still feeling out the whole walking thing, but you get the idea...we'll try to get a better video of it soon, but for now, it gives you a bit of an idea as to how he's doing with it...enjoy!
1 comment:
Thanks for the tips :)
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