Welcome to the new world of parents! You have now begun your life-raising journey.
Were you prepared mentally when you decided to enter the unknown world? I’m sure you did your best to get ready and look forward to this realm unbeknownst to many.
Kudos to you if this is not your first round in parenting. You’re a few years wiser than most of us! :)
The moment you saw those two red lines on your PT, the first thing you feel is shock, then happiness, then dread and then you start thinking about the sleepless nights, the crying, and all the other grown-up responsibilities you have to either embrace or suck up.
Overwhelming, right?
That, my friends, is basically what sums up being a parent. It is one overwhelming journey over a series of events the size of mountains. This is basically almost a permanent state.
Undoubtedly, as you venture further into parenting, there are some surprising side effects you didn’t know about until you were knee-deep in the waters.
For some of you who have already had one or two tours under your belt, you might find yourself smiling in agreement on how close this hits home.
You look forward to your ONE Minute Night Showers
When you’re busy taking care of a needy baby, a shower is the last thing on your to-do list. And when you get puked on, you try your best to squeeze in a bird-like shower while your baby is taking a nap – vigilantly paying extra attention to the baby monitor, ready to jump out of the shower the moment you hear a cry.
When you enter parenting, you start looking forward to a peaceful and uninterrupted shower which usually happens at night when your kids are tucked in bed soundly asleep.
Coffee becomes your ultimate BEST FRIEND
Parenting = sleep is for the week. This is true for the first few months our couple years when your baby is up most of the night. Your morning coffee becomes your best friend and you meet as often as needed on a daily basis.
The dark circles under your the eyes indicate only two professions: programmer or parent.
You become forgetful
Your car keys, reading glasses, wallet and wristwatch start to get misplaced. You don’t remember where you put them. You set your glasses on top of your head, look for them frantically around the house when you need them then facepalm yourself when you find them an hour later still perched on top of your head.
Late is the new on time
It’s not like you’re trying to be late on purpose. It’s actually a series of things that makes you late. A sick child, a sudden tantrum, forgetting to prepare the baby bag or maybe a child who thinks bath time is playing tag.
You have more thing to prepare before you even try to hop in the shower to get yourself ready. Then you have kids fighting for your attention in between putting your underwear on and applying a smudge of blush to make you look a bit more rested.
You care less about what you look like when you go out
Who cares if you have not brushed your hair today? Or if you have a questionable stain on your shirt? Or don’t have any make-up on?
When you have a toddler and an infant to care for, putting on make-up or making sure your belt matches your purse would be the last of your worries. But you might agree with this parenting side effect because once you become one, your fashionista days are reserved solely for extravagant or special occasions.
Well, not unless you can afford nannies. If you can then by all means keep up with your fashion icon lifestyle! :)
Where and how you shop changed
When you were single, you shopped for bags, clothes, gadgets, junk food and what not. When you step into parenting, you buy the necessities for a baby such as strollers, cribs, diapers, formula, baby food and lots of toys to keep your baby entertained.
You rarely think about the latest Chanel bag, or the newest Manolos or care about the latest iPhone (at least not right away 😉).
You start worrying about stuff you didn’t worry about before
Remember when you were a kid you couldn’t wait to grow up so you can do whatever you wanted? Then when you got to college, you couldn’t wait to get a job so you can buy the things you wanted?
Then you got married and have now joined the parenting world.
Now you worry about tuition fees, clothing, food, shelter, utilities and so many other things you didn’t dream about thinking of. Every insect bite, every throw-up and every wound worry you.
Sometimes you just wish you can go back to being young and leave all the grown-up responsibility to your parents again, don’t you?
Yup, that’s a common feeling. You’re not alone in that area.
You become financially vigilant
I bet at this point in your parenting journey you’ve come across or have already used coupons for food or for diapers. Did I hit home?
There’s actually nothing wrong with that. With a family to raise, kids to send to school and bills to pay, you need every cent you can save – not unless you’re along with the ranks of people featured in Forbes magazine.
But for us average folks, we become extra frugal with our finances the moment we see those red lines on a pregnancy test. We are more careful of what we buy and when we buy them. We no longer buy for pleasure but for what’s necessary.
Your tear ducts betray you most of the time
Okay, this may not be the case for dads but this is super accurate for most moms. 1. because we’re females. 2. because we’re hormonal.
Our sentiments are totally different when it comes to our children. Their smallest achievement makes our hearts swell. The smallest hurt makes us angry. And, the simplest words of love that comes from them automatically make our tear ducts betray us.
Then you realize you weren’t much of a crier back in the day but you still can’t help yourself. You know how I know? My mom. She’s the toughest cookie I know but she cries so easily when it comes to us. It’s actually very cute and heartwarming.
You start understanding YOUR parents
Is this really surprising? I highly doubt it. It’s not because this side effect is surprising but it’s because we choose to deny it. We don’t want to admit that they were right and we were wrong.
It’s pride. But, now that you’re right smack in the middle of parenting, there’s no denying that our parents were right. They had wisdom we chose to ignore. They had lessons we did not understand then but is now of our greatest eureka moments.
Now, you have a higher respect for your parents wondering how they did it all, how they were able to make ends meet and how they were able to go through the same s*** we put them through on a daily basis.
Now, you realize that what they did was in your best interest and that the things you said wounded them deeply. Now, you’re able to sympathize and empathize with them.
Parenting is a journey you have to experience firsthand for you to understand.
There’s no amount of research to fully prepare you for what’s to come. These are some side effects that are not surprising when spoken in theory but is when you’re faced with them.
Many things will catch you off guard but keep in mind, your parents when through the same surprises just different origins.
Despite all the unknowns, parenting is a journey worth toiling through. It’s the perfect example of the anecdote you reap what you sow.
The moment you see them walk up the stage to receive their diplomas, the moment you walk them down the aisle and the moment you see them do an act of kindness out of the goodness of their hearts, you realize it was all worth it.
Then, you can pat yourself on the back and know you’ve done a good job! Any thoughts on this post? Let us know in a comment below!
