Health, Fashion, Parenting and Women Related Issues

Here are 10 things that no one ever tells you about becoming a parent, but that you definitely need to know:

There’s no job description for the job of parent.

Can you imagine agreeing to take on a job for which there was no job description, no orientation program, no training program, no performance review process—in other words, none of the usual bells and whistles that we have come to expect in a typical employment situation? That’s what parenting is like. It’s the ultimate fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants experience. Until you’re on the job, you have no idea what the job involves or how difficult it really is, which explains why so many of us end up applying for the job in the first place!

There’s no such thing as “the perfect age.”

You often hear parents talk about how much they are looking forward to their kids reaching such-and-such an age because it’s “the perfect age.” Well, there really is no such thing. Every age comes with its own unique mix of joys and challenges.

Nothing about parenting happens in a predictable, linear fashion.

If there’s a Murphy’s Law of Parenthood, it goes something like this: The more convinced you are that you’ve finally gotten through a rough stage with your child, the greater the likelihood that your child will immediately take three steps backwards. As any veteran parent can tell you, it’s a case of two steps forward and one step back whenever a child is attempting to master a new skill. Certain behaviors can return even years after the fact. The whining and temper tantrums that were so common during the toddler years can make themselves felt again during the preteen years.

The experts don’t have all the answers.

Part of the problem, of course, is that the parenting experts rarely agree about anything. Put an attachment-parenting guru next to an advocate of tough love on a TV talk show, and you’re likely to see a fist fight break out during commercial breaks! The net result for parents, unfortunately, is information overload and an unwillingness to trust their own parenting instincts.

Parenting in the real world is a whole lot messier than parenting on TV.

The fact that the parenting issue of the day can be solved in 30 minutes or less only adds insult to injury. Unless you happen to be raising a tribe of Walton or Cosby clones, you’re unlikely to be able to pull that off in the real world!

Parenthood is a long-term project.

You have to wait for the final payoff. The ultimate reward for any parent—successfully raising a happy, healthy child to adulthood—is many years in the making. What’s required in the meantime is a huge leap of faith that things will turn out as they should.

Parenting can be hell on your self-esteem.

Some days you may wonder how anyone can let you be a parent: The house is a disaster, your children are not listening and are cranky, and you’re doing a lot of yelling. And then, other days, you have a really good time doing something together, and you are really amazed at just how much your children know and are learning. You’ll pat yourself on the back for all you do.

Kids force you to confront any “stuff” that you may have tried to bury underneath the carpet.

If you try to ignore the stuff that’s hidden under the carpet, you’re likely to trip over it and fall flat on your face.

Nothing can prepare you for the depth of the love you will feel for your child.

Life doesn’t get any better than this.

The physical demands of parenting are the easy part. It’s the emotional demands that practically sink you.

The aches and pains of pregnancy and childbirth are just the beginning of the “pain” that you can expect to experience during the next 18 years and beyond. It’s watching your child experience the emotional bumps and bruises of life that really hurts.