Tell me the nice things :)

[tinywife]

Hi all

I got married earlier this year and recently me and my hubby have been talking about starting a family. I have been reading the pregnancy and parenting boards on Mumsnet for a bit info/research and whilst it has been really interesting and I have enjoyed reading everyone's posts, I know that people often use message boards to vent or ask for help when things are hard. I'd really like to hear all the positive sides of having little ones and was hoping some of the parents here wouldn't mind sharing your experiences!

So - what's the best thing about becoming a parent?!

Thanks in advance :)

The tiny little squidgy knees. :)

And the unlimited ( when not having a tantrum) hugs and sloppy kisses.

Cuddles at night time. Even though you have no room in the bed and are stuck in some contorted position.....warm baby/toddler cuddles when they are sleeping are just the best.

Watching them learn new things....all those tiny little achievements and acomplishments that happen on a daily basis.

even though ds is still refusing to go to sleep at the mo the little sod

And the first time they call you mummy/mum etc. Feels so so wierd.....but in a strangey oh hell I am a mum now dont screw up nice kind of way.

the sheer bloody terrifying amount of love you feel I've never felt anything else like it.

What absent said too - sleepy cuddles are amazing.

Yy to when they first say mummy (my heart melts every time my dd says it)
Everything is so wonderful about being a mum couldn't fit it all on here. My dd has made my life a million times better I'm totally and utterly in love with her she's amazing :)

Yes, their knees! And their tiny feet. Best of all is watching them grow into an independent person. I have two teens, they're great. You can't describe the love you have for them.

There are hard times, you worry more than you could ever imagine, but your own children are amazing. It's ace

The small, warm body climbing into your bed at some fucking ridiculous time in the morning for cuddles.

The way their face lights up when they see you coming to pick them up from pre-school.

Hearing them say "I love you".

Genuinely loving all the ridiculous things you do: galloping to the village shop, singing songs everywhere you go, waving at farmers driving tractors, dancing like mad things in the kitchen.

I could go on and on :)

the sheer bloody terrifying amount of love you feel I've never felt anything else like it.

^ and this.

The only time you will feel & receive true unconditional love...... Love my DH & it is different. (plus the opportunity to watch kids cinema!)

When they learn things you teach them, like today he pointed to his nose for the first time during head shoulders, knees and toes. Every time he laughs, every time he puts his arms out for a cuddle or gives me a kiss. When he wants his shawl and waves night night because he is tired. When he enjoys something I have organised. When I buy him toys or clothes.When he wears the clothes I bought him or plays with the toys. When people ask about him. When I look at pictures of him. When DH interacts with him. When my parents and Sister argue over who is babysitting him. Everything... my DS is now my world.

It's bloody hard work but I laugh every day because she's hilarious, I well up every day because she's amazing and I dance with her every day because she orders me too!!!!

Awww these are all so lovely! Made me smile loads :) Thank you!!

Dimpled hands and general chubbiness. I could EAT dd when she's just come out of the bath in all her sweet smelling glory and velvety skin

Aww little things like the way their eyes glint when they laugh. DS1 has this laugh where he literally looks like he may explode with happiness. He goes bright red and doubles over and just hearing it is so infectious. I love how much we laugh together. He's 6 now and just tonight said 'I love your sense of humour, Mummy.' Just their amazing ability to put things into the sweetest words.

Toddler cuddles are amazing. DS2 gives the best kisses in the world. Something about the ferocity they give them and sometimes he looks at me like I am the ONLY person in the world. They make you aware that you are the centre of their universe and that is scary but also amazing.

Awww and babies, when they sleep do this sucking motion to comfort themselves and the suckle in their sleep. Their little faces with their lips smacking in their snuffly sleep is just adorable.

little things like the way their eyes glint when they laugh

Yes, their little smiles and giggles properly light up their faces, I love how their laughter is so without guile or self-consciousness.

Squidgy baby legs - hard not to give them a squeeze! Fluffy baby hair after a bath and the lovely sweet 'baby smell'. Little chubby arms reaching up to me for a cuddle and wrapping round my neck, little head on my shoulder. Knowing that I am the centre of her little world.

With my older son, hearing him say "I love you, Mummy." Having fun together being silly and laughing till our sides hurt. The preciousness of holding him when he is sad or poorly and loving him so so much.

Having children is the biggest challenge of all, you have to be prepared to feel this unimaginable overwhelming love for this little person and know that you would do anything in the world to keep them safe and happy. Being a Mum is the most amazing, wonderful thing in the world.

I think it's the love more than anything else - both feeling it and receiving it. I never realised that love could be just so big - it has made the world an immeasurably richer place for me. My son has taught me so much about everything that I just feel honoured to be able to share in his precious life.

Also, the physicality of that love at times reminds me that I'm a mammal. Since he was the littlest thing I have touched him, carried him, worn him, sniffed him, had him sleep on me, sit on me, feed from me - it's a primal thing.

YY that mammalian animalistic thing. We are primates and it's amazing that we have all this stuff around us to help us forget we are basically monkeys. That heart swelling love is huge.

I'd also do pretty much anything for my own parents 30-odd years on. I've given therm some moments but I see it through such a different lens now I'm a parent myself. It's fabulous.

I love a thread like this....

It's the way she reaches out for my hand when she needs help with something, without even looking to see if I'm there, because she knows I am. The smell of her in the morning. The way she pats my face as she's falling asleep in my arms. The way she laughs when she does a fart loud enough to be heard next door. And definitely the chubby little thighs. Best thing ever!

They are so much fun, and so funny. Some of the stuff that DD1 (3yo) comes out with makes me howl laughing. And the love, the cuddles, holding her and talking to her - amazing. I have to say I'm not really into babies particularly - I love being a mum much more now that I can talk to DD1.

The way she scrunches her face up when I wash her hair. The way she grasps my finger so tightly. The way she looks round at everything and the realisation that for her every mundane thing is new and exciting. The smile in the morning when she looks up from her moses basket is the most beautiful thing in the world. The pride you feel of them, in everything, the most simple things. The first time DD turned a page in a book I thought my heart was going to burst. The excitement about the future, knowing that there will be all of the firsts, watching this little person grow and develop, not knowing what they will be like but knowing that you get the privilege of watching this wonderful mystery unfold.

The love you have for others seems to intensify by their relationship to their child. Seeing my mum and dad with dd and knowing how much they love her is so lovely. Seeing dp and dd together is the most wonderful thing and knowing how much he loves her and how much she loves her daddy only makes me love him more than I thought I could.

But more than anything as others have said it is the power of that love. As others have said is completely animalistic and instinctual. It comes from a place deep inside that you never knew existed and is like nothing you have ever felt before. It is the most wonderful, beautiful, incredible thing.

The real message is... Ask anyone if they could be without their children they would say not in a million years. Mine go to bed I get 1-2 hours of peace and to reflect on the day then I miss them like mad.

I didn't want kids. Looked rubbish from where me and my husband with our perfect lives were sitting.

We'd stare at snotty face kids in restaurants having meltdowns and tired, exasperated parents wishing the ground would swallow them up and think, why?

I had to babysit for friends a few times and it left me cold. Yuck.

We had a comfortable lifestyle, holidays, no stress, a tidy perfect home and a good social life - keep your little darling's, we are going to have a life instead!

Then my 30th birthday approached. We had been together for 12 years, married for 5 and I suddenly started feeling, well, bored. Another meal out, another night out, it was all the same. I pondered the idea and we tried once (after lots and lots of wine) and bingo - I just about died!

Along came DS. Blew us away!! Within 5 years we had 3!!
DS now 6, DD now 3.9 and DS 14 months. I had 3 high risk pregnancy's and births so Im TRYING to accept I shouldn't have a 4th - but im struggling with it!

I can't put in one post what it is like. I used to ask girls at work but their answers were never straight forward enough for me. I now get how hard it is to explain.

I can't believe these gorgeous little people are ours.
I can't believe how fast they grow and how I find it amazing each and every time I see their first smile, giggle, clapping hands, crawling, walking and the 3 completely different personality's.

Seeing them as sibling's interacting, cuddling each other.

Our little family holiday just in Britain The type of holidays that would have made me shudder previously are better than the exotic ones we had.

They mean more. I remember the details and treasure them. We just got back from Center Parcs where my baby boy got up and walked towards my 3 year old girl for a cuddle and seeing her wide eyed amazement at her baby brothers first steps.

I could go on and it won't mean much to you - because they aren't your little creations.

You will be more tired. You will learn the meaning of true worry. You will have moments where you are just exasperated and over whelmed by it all then the moments that make people have more - the moments where you feel joy and pride like you can't imagine. Like your heart will burst. It's a smile you haven't done yet.

I have one big regret in life and it eats me up? WHY did we wait so long. 13 years. Why did I not start younger?

Go for it, now. All that shit people say, have holidays first, get a bigger house firs, it is pointless crap.
We have moved house 4 times since having them! We have had the most amazing times since having them and low and behold - we still get out . Infact our social life has doubled with meeting great friends for life through the kids.

Stop sitting here wasting time - go get pregnant!

I am with Princesspants except I was 35 when I decided it was time to have a baby. I so enjoyed my baby free years but it wasn't until dd came along that I truly felt fulfilled. I had enjoyed a successful career, exotic and fulfilling travelling experiences, festivals, parties etc etc but it was only when I met my baby, just born from me that I got it. Love, pure utter love. I can't begin to explain how wonderful motherhood is. All the nappies, disrupted sleep etc that people scare you into thinking area horrendous are fine. Don't matter. All good. The smiles, love and fun a baby/now toddler bring overrule all negatives. Do it. Have a baby.

Great big open mouthed toothy kisses that are just for Mummy & Daddy!

Cuddliness.

My little boy is 9 mo and has only been crawling for a few weeks and now when he is tired he will crawl over to me and put his arms round me and just lay his weary head on my lap or chest.

It is so, so sweet.

I haven't had a good nights sleep in five months but I wouldn't trade him for the world :)