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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask if you have found any unexpected perks that come with becoming a parent?

221 replies

mommabear12 · 01/04/2015 23:15

Was just wondering as I used my default excuse for not attending another tedious fourtieth birthday party "we can't get a babysitter" (haven't even asked!). How on earth did I shirk these things before ds came along?!!

OP posts:
purdeypie · 02/04/2015 22:26

I'll tell you if I ever learn to plait hair Hmm

toddlewaddleflipflop · 02/04/2015 22:58

Not being afraid anymore. DS was so close to dying that everything else that may have once held fear for me, seems insignificant.

Jemimapuddlemuck · 02/04/2015 22:58

When you go shopping or run errands alone it feels joyous.

elQuintoConyo · 02/04/2015 23:03

DS demanding Daddy stops working (from home) and comes downstairs right now as he wants some 'love': a three-way hug between us.

Making things for him that he wears/plays with for months (today a whole road system with construction cones, zebra crossings, direction arrows, a roundabout, traffic lights... out of foam, portable so we can take it on long journeys/boring places). I have made him babygros, baby toys, bedding, rugs, giant stuffed animals, drawstring bafs for transporting vehicles etc. Sooooo much fun and so enjoyable.

So far, he hates colouring, drawing, crafts, painting, play doh... I'm hoping it'll come eventually. Getting him to help make Easter decs has been like trying to get blood out of a stone!

Being able to offer protection from scary things - two dogs bark at each other through opposing gates down the road which freaks DS out, even though they both look pretty soft and are only barking because they like the sound of their own woofs! I have to carry him and he snuggles up and stops crying.

Providing jacuzzi special effects when we share a bath Grin he loves them! Always happy to oblige.

Awwww, I'm tearing up! Great idea for a thread mommabear12

prawnballs · 02/04/2015 23:12

Yes! Whenever you have a dodgy tum and have accidently 'let one out'..blame baby for the smell - works every time Grin

TheEggityOddity · 02/04/2015 23:13

Doing craft again but not fancy poncy stuff, just cutting up bits of card and gluing it onto stuff you painted. And playdough. Very therapeutic!

Constantly being in an imaginary world. I am now a full time Octonaut, except at bedtime when I get to be a mummy bird.

stickystick · 02/04/2015 23:15

I flew on the red eye from the US to London with my one year old last year, only to find there was a train and tube strike the morning we got back. We managed to wedge ourselves on one of the few HEx services running, only to find on arrival at Paddington, a taxi queue of about 1000 people - snaking all the way out of the station. (Oh, and my son had a physiotherapy appointment in forty minutes' time)
I was staring transfixed in horror at this hours' long queue when a rail worker in a high vis tabard suddenly beckoned me over, lifted up the rope separating us from the front of the queue, and stated "Ladies with babies go to the front".
I tried not to catch anyone else's eye as I shot (as best one can while conveying 50 kilos of pushchair, infant and suitcase) under the rope and into a cab.
The high vis man then spoiled the effect slightly by saying "Where's your husband" as we went past, but I decided to forgive him that....

puddymuddles · 02/04/2015 23:22

Easy to make friends/chat to random people.
Enjoy all the fun things like going to park and playdough and generally playing with toys!
Excuse to work very very part time.
Really really lovely feeling that I am fulfilled because i have them.

On a physical level - no more period pain (it stopped after had first baby and has never returned). Also no more spots/oily skin. I suffered from this until age 33 when got preg for 1st time and it has never returned (am now 38 and preg with DC3)

shockedballoon · 02/04/2015 23:23

Babysitter thing - standout winner.

Someone to go on log flumes/big wheels etc with. DH is a total wuss when it comes to heights, fortunately DS (5) isn't. Can't wait until he's old enough for that zip wire thing in snowdonia!

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 02/04/2015 23:44

For me, it's the pushchair. I will be a broken woman when DS2 outgrows the need for it - I love having something in which to stash all the bags/drinks/coats/hats etc. so I don't have to carry the buggers! Easter Grin

SweetAndFullOfGrace · 02/04/2015 23:48

The cuddles. DD (15 months) is the master of unexpected and awesome cuddles. (Her sloppy kisses are not so lovely)

TheNoodlesIncident · 02/04/2015 23:51

I wouldn't ever have seen any Hey Duggee if it wasn't for DS. Makes our morning

Being woken up by a small child who has decided to practice forward rolls on our bed

The crazy stories that they make up - just hysterical. And exchanging a look with your partner that says "How cute is he being and he doesn't realise it..." Grin

Postchildrenpregranny · 03/04/2015 01:09

Seeing your (in my case dead) parents in your children . My DD1 is the image of my mum .My DD2 (4 when my Dad died) has the same dry sense of humour .It's uncanny

Smooshface · 03/04/2015 07:47

We owned all the Pixar films anyway as we were fans, great to share then with kids! Now loving watching stuff like labyrinth, Mary poppins etc.

Mornings can be lovely with children invading the bed to read books

Watching how spontaneously lovely children can be to each other. I am only child so am amazed by how my two kids seem to love each other so much despite 4 year gap.

Smooshface · 03/04/2015 07:52

Oh and seeing Charlie and Lola, the christmas episode of Old Jack's Boat and even dear old Peppa Pig (love Daddy Pig), would never have seen them without kids!

And learning to baby sign is fun, whole language where I understand my baby is fun!

AndyWarholsOrange · 03/04/2015 08:23

I lived in London for 10 years before I had DCs but feel I only really got to know it after they were born.
Dressing up as a dalek by wearing a laundry basket with a sink plunger stuck in the front.
Parenthood has bought out a deeply silly side in me which I didn't know existed.
And the older two are teaching me so much now - I'm a hopeless technophobe and they help me so much with anything IT related.
DS2 has actually managed to get me to like football and I now have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the Premier League.
This is such a nice antidote to all the threads about parenthood being one long miserable slog - of course it can feel like that sometimes but it's good to be reminded that it can also be awesome.

MamaLazarou · 03/04/2015 09:14

Adventure Time

Spending more time outdoors

Being the person with the magic kisses who can make everything better

People commenting on how gorgeous DS is - and then saying he looks like me (thanks!)

And as a PP said - I suffered from acne until I was pregnant and it's never come back.

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 03/04/2015 09:46

I do appreciate having an excuse to indulge my inner child. Mind you, I used to do so anyway before children, just now people don't look at me sideways any more! Easter Grin

ohtheholidays · 03/04/2015 10:00

Being able to roll down hills,make snow angels,have snowball fights,have Easter egg hunts,sing in public skip and dance,going completely OTT at Christmas,Easter and Halloween,being able to wear a Halloween costume.

JugglingFromHereToThere · 03/04/2015 10:52

Children's literature
Family Movies
Ice-creams
Mooching round the park - and yes, park cafe
Christmas - Santa and stockings
Easter egg hunts
Steam trains
Seaside

iwasyoungonce · 03/04/2015 10:58

Being able to take a day off when it snows because the school is shut.

Having an excellent opportunity to go and make a snowman (I'd never do this without kids, but absolutely LOVE it).

JemimaPuddlePop · 03/04/2015 11:02

Having an excuse to go to DLP without looking like a douchebag.

Having a reason to go to petting farms and the like - we always go in April when all the babies are there and I love it but wouldn't go alone!

Shodan · 03/04/2015 11:33

Glitter Grin

And glue and furry stuff and shiny card and googly eyes and ... all the rest of it.

Disneyworld (I'm almost embarrassed to admit how much I love that place, except the DC love it as much and our holidays there have been the best we've had)

YY to the 'no babysitter' thing- used it just last night.

Pride and puzzlement mixed when they're telling you a new word, but not quite getting it right- 'hydro thizzlesist' was ds2's latest (astro physicist). He's only 7- I don't even know where he would've heard about astro physicists...

Puddle jumping; pooh sticks; lying flat on the ground to examine a microscopic insect/leaf.

meddie · 03/04/2015 12:38

Playing out in the snow. I love it, always have. Once woke my kids up at 3am because it had been snowing, we got dressed went outside and were the first to put footprints in the snow, make snow angels. It was wonderful just us and the snow glistening in the street lights and the silence. They still talk about it now and they are mid 20's. was magical. I now want grandkids so I have an excuse again.
being silly, watching disney and pixar films, making crafty stuff. baking cakes and overdosing on the food colouring, but still eating them anyway. Without kids its just eccentric, with them its allowed

Tobagostreet · 03/04/2015 12:44

It being OK to play with Lego again.

The happiness that comes with your LO growing up, learning how to make tea and coffee, and being tickled pink every time you say yes to the incessant question of "can I make you a cuppa?"

The whole 'no babysitter' excuse.

It being OK to watch cartoons again.

Feeling like you're the 'cool kid' for the first time in your life when you teach your boys to do something exciting like how to start a camp fire GrinGrinGrin.