Anything good to say about kids?!

[KO2018]

Hi everyone, I’m a visitor from the pregnancy board - I’m expecting my first child and just going into my second trimester.

Tentatively been looking up advice on becoming a parent, but everything I find on the Internet seems to be a list of miseries and complaints about what horrible little brats they are.

Like do I really need to read another article about kids pooing everywhere? Or breaking possessions? Or having tantrums in the supermarket? I get it - kids break stuff and make a mess!!!

I was really hoping to find a few happy stories. I refuse to believe it’s all as horrible as people say!

So... anyone got any nice, positive things they’d like to share about kids and parenthood? Maybe something to make me actually look forward to it..?

Congratulations, OP!!!!

Children are squishy and cuddly. They squeal with laughter when you blow raspberries against their tummy. They fall asleep in your arms and it's like the peace of the whole world. They make you stop and talk to a slug. They let you dance for no reason in the middle of the afternoon.

I think parenting can be like TripAdvisor - usually the bad experiences are broadcast loudest! I'm guilty of it too.

Look at this way - they contribute no money to the bills, they wake you up, need to be entertained, helped to dress, to eat, to poo! Throw tantrums, mess up your house, you name it. Weekends are eaten up with their needs, not yours. Etc.

BUT they're the only ones in the world you will make that sacrifice for - because they need you, and you love them so much. When they snuggle you, kiss you, thank you, run to you for comfort, make you proud, make you laugh, laugh with their siblings - it really is the best. You'll have moments where you marvel at what you've made and how you couldn't bear to live without it. And the new baby head smell is heaven on earth 😍

It's hard but the most surreal, wonderful thing. That's why people keep doing it! 🤗 Congratulations!

All those hard tones and aggravations are absolutely nothing in comparison to the all consuming love a child brings into your life. My dd queued up this morning to go into school, turned around just before she went in and shouted 'I love you Mummy'. I just adore her.

Times not tones

They are funny and affectionate and show you the world in a different way. My DC is 10 and we had such a great time in lockdown. I could see how kind, smart and considerate they are becoming. They'd make me lunch if I was stuck working at my desk. We'd cuddle up watching movies. Stay up late to stargaze. Obviously there were arguments about home schooling too but it was a joy to be able to spend so much time with them.

No one gives better hugs than my 7yo DD. My 11yo DS is a pretty good hugger too.

They are very squishy and sometimes, when I cuddle them, I breath in their gorgeous little smells so hard that their cheek sticks to my nostrils.

My three year old whispers to me at bedtime at the moment that I'm her best friend. It melts my heart! I love her more than I could ever say or write in words. She's brought my husband and I even closer. There are tiring times but the joy and awe she brings me is priceless!

Just the hugs/cuddles are amazing, when my little boy hugs me it is genuinely the best feeling in the world, I get butterflies, yet I completely relax and nothing around me matters/is noticed.

Watching him learn new things, have new experiences, you can’t verbally explain how intense it feels. You think your love for a partner is strong, then you become a parent and there is no stronger or more wonderful feeling than the love for your child. Even just being called “daddy” gives me a warm fuzzy feeling, it never gets old, its always special, even when he is being a bit annoying. Being his dad makes me the luckiest man in the world.

when my husband left they were my absolute comfort. They still are. Even though they're both under 10 when I'm sad they offer cuddles and comfort, they make me laugh, they do nuts stuff and you find yourself saying things like "don't put your penis in that shoe" or "the cat doesn't really like wearing tiaras darling".

My huge bed would feel very big and empty most nights if I didn't, most nights, find one or other tiny interloper spread out like a starfish in the middle.
I'm currently lying here with a small, hot hand resting lightly on my tummy, because somebody went on a mummy hunt in her sleep.

It's the hardest fucking thing I ever did, but the family I've created for myself is incredible. They are such awesome people. Getting to know them is a privilege.

I am not maternal at all but having DD was the best thing I have done and I feel
I have achieved lots. She is 2.5 and she is the funniest, tenacious and considerate little soul I know. She is great company and makes me laugh with her toddler babble. I know as her mom I am the most important thing to her and she feels such sadness when she thinks I’m cross/unhappy. I love cuddling up to her and although I fight her to sleep I actually miss her when she is snoozing. I couldn’t be without her and if I was to do it all again I would pick her every single time.

Thanks for starting this OP. I'm 36 + 4 and really needed to read something so positive.

Toddlers are brilliant, DS2 is just 2 and it's my favourite age. His speech is just about understandable and he puts little sentences together - it's incredible getting a taste of what his thought processes are. At the moment he's obsessed with a barrier on a road near us which he calls the "door gate" and every day we have to go and inspect it, see what happens when various vehicles approach it etc. Then today he was acting out the door gate with his arm and a toy car, talking himself through it all the time. Their little faces while they do this are so serious and concentrated. I actually love all the baby science figuring out the world stuff they do, right from newborn all the way up to about 5, when they are convinced they know everything. :o

They are absolutely hilarious as well. DS2's other current favourite thing is to fling himself face first onto our bed while screaming with joy, or shout "two... three... one... YEAH!" and then propel his head and legs in two different directions.

DS1 is nearly 12 and this is a brilliant age as well, it's like they suddenly grow up overnight, he's doing all kinds of things, making mug cakes, developing a sudden interest in skateboarding, organising his own social life, I can send him to the shop with money and he comes back with something sensible and doesn't lose the money.

Also the baby snuggles, the weight of their tiny selves asleep on you. All the fun shopping you get to do - adorable clothes and bedroom stuff and books and toys and prams and things! Getting to see who that look like and take after. Seeing your partner in a whole new light, your family members develop relationships with them etc. There are so many more lovely and fun bits than crap bits.

We are what you would call a chaotic household, 4 boys. I love it all and treasure every second, there are highs and ridiculous lows and I am wrecked most of the time but if I even go somewherefor a night I'm wishing they were there. Best of luck op

DS1 is nearly 12 and this is a brilliant age as well
Ditto here, we both have similar tastes in music and chat tons and he's got a bit of my sarcasm in his sense of humour so we have a laugh (although it can come back to bite me too!)

Just that overwhelming feeling of love when I think about them - hugs cuddles - just everything honestly they're amazing and time just flies

I don't get the moaners. Yeah, some aspects are hard... mainly early sleep deprivation, but come on, baby snuggles and that smell that they have for months, oh! My DS is one now, and i simultaneously want time to speed up and stop. He has completed our lives, I'm not particularly sentimental but 🤷‍♀️ it's true. I never realised how true "the days are long but the years are short" could be.

Some really lovely stories on here ! I’m glad I asked

Mine are great, I’ll keep them, especially now they’re toilet trained. We’ll be even better when youngest can wipe his bum.

The mind blowing, heart aching, amount of sheer unconditional love I have for my DD is like nothing else I've ever experienced.

Is it hard - yep.

Can you do it - of course.

People always say wait until this and that but if you spend your life always dreading the next "problem" and wishing it to be over - before you know it you'll be on your death bed and regretting the fact that wished your entire life away. This refers to everything in life not just having kids

best of luck op

I wasn't going to return to this thread because my attempt at being nice earned me a biscuit, however I was thinking about it last night. DS17 sat for 3 hours in the living room, just chatting away about random but interesting stuff. He is usually holed away in his room and it was lovely just to have him sit for so long and chat. It really brightened up my evening, I didn't put the TV on or watch my normal shows, went on my phone couple of times but for the most part we really did just sit and chat. That time is absolutely precious and I enjoyed every minute of it. OP / parenting can be so very rewarding

I've found it very difficult but let me tell you this, it's the best love you can ever have for another human being. That love overshadows every negative aspect. Patience is key though especially when you are sleep deprived.

Hi all …. So I’m returning to old threads… My girl is just about to turn four.

It’s so amazing to me how much I know now vs when I posted this. Parenting is far and away the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

To be honest, all those articles and stories I read were massively UNDER-playing how hard it is!

I am the world’s biggest feminist now because I can’t believe women go through this and are just expected to carry on as normal.

We should all be receiving medals of valour imho

First year hell, second year marginally easier, by three it’s the most lovely gorgeous thing ever. But she’s starting school this year and I’m only just ready to even think about having another one. Our sleep is still not back to normal.

Motherhood has shaped my whole worldview. As a lockdown first time mum I was so underprepared. I make it my mission now to reach out to new mums at every opportunity I can to the point where my career is becoming about this.

Thank goodness for forums like this. Women are simply amazing.

Aww, so lovely to get the update. My dcs are 8, and 5 now! They must have been very little when I originally commented on your thread op. It is honestly amazing, like you say hard work, but lovely to watch them grow, and it is flying over fast! They are two exciting little people, who I can appreciate even more, because I'm getting sleep again, woo hoo!!