What part of parenting did you not foresee?

[misboo]

For me, it would be the surprise poo i found on the floor this afternoon, and my calm reaction to it.

(It was easily traced back to DS (2 years) who denied it...)

[Quattrocento]

The fact that I would be living with a prosecuting counsel and her junior

[Aero]

'The fact that my four year old can argue more eloquently with me than my DH ' by notwavingjustironing.

Snap - and I didn't see that one coming for sure. Ds2 always has to have the last word too!

[deeeja]

That I would have to hide all my 'naughty'stuff.
Like living with my parents!
Today ds2 told me off for not going to bed at 7pm.
Ds1 used to tell me everyday that my lungs would go black, have since given up though!
(smoking not lungs!)
Baby ds is always finding bits of stuff on the floor and throwing it in the bin after showing it to me....

[williamsmummy]

for thinking that it would get easier when they were older.
that by the time my children are the ages they are now, that I would be back at work full time.

they need me to be there more than ever, and i am worn out by it all.
now 16 14 12 9yrs

[eekamoose]

I had all the usual forewarnings about lack of sleep, breastfeeding difficulties, lack of freedom etc because I had children later in life than most of my friends. But they never really spelled out the amount of illness (respect to you needmorecoffee, but I'm talking minor complaints here) that goes with small children: the seemingly never-ending snot/sick/runny poo/pox/ nits/worms/ molluscum/impetigo/ear-ache/ tonsillitis/croup etc. I do find it very difficult being "in" with children who are ill.

[Psychomum5]

that the smugness I would feel at it all 'being a matter of discipline', when it came to boys and behaviour, would some back to haunt me when I had my own boys.

that tantrums happen to them all, regardless of parenting.

that there is no such thing as ideals and standards, it all boils down to the day, hormones, mood, and 'winging it'

that the new speeling of patience would be w-i-n-e

that coffee would be more valuable to me than a hug from DH some days!

that I could shout loud enough to stop traffic

that I could produce these wonderful creatures that make me ache when I am not near, them make me love them more than life itself, and make me so angry I could run and never return!!!!!

[bitchentrotter]

The grinding Groundhog Day... Week... Month element to much of it. the hamster-wheel of the routines that come with feeding, getting up, getting ready, going out etc.

[VoluptuaGoodshag]

That I would turn into a person with a very short temper and pendulous bosoms that are smaller than when I started out this caper.

That I would have a voice resembling a fishwife

That I would shout most of the time

That sometimes I would regret it

How tiresome and boring it can be

[FasterPussyCatGrrrl]

that i'd have days where i feel phenomenally s**t at it, and be certain they'll hate me when they're older.

[notnowbernard]

The Groundhog Day Effect

Esp with regard to the mealtime/mess/tidy-up

Repeat 3 times a day

Does my head in sometimes!

[Bluebutterfly]

When ds is ill with a fever (as he has been for the last 4 days) how utterly stuck in the house I am until dh gets home from work.

And agree with nnb about the groundhog day thing. Repetition is not the spice of life!

Love ds so much that I almost don't mind, though...

[ruddynorah]

the way it would change my view of my own parents and some events during my childhood.

that it would make me miss my mother more than i ever thought possible.

[minouminou]

that people would suddenly start taking DP's opinion more seriously than mine on all matters NOT relating to babies
that one shocked me, i can tell you
took quite a bit of stamping on
and how much some people really do dislike children
oh, and i thought i'd find the 1st few months with DS boring, and he turned out to be fascinating (as they all do)

[mummy2t]

the amount of tupperware i seem to own now!!!

[verylittlecarrot]

that I would have a baby who never left my arms, 24 hours a day. I thought you got to put them down for naps, bedtime and the like, and I would have my hands free for an hour or two a day.

Did not see this coming at all.

[ScarletA]

how judgemental I would become

how my hair would become a nit colony

[LynetteScavo]

Not minding much when a little person wipes thier snot on my face.

Waking up in a bed soaked in childs urine.

School refusal.

[LynetteScavo]

My addiction to mumsnet.

[newgirl]

that the children trust you so completely

and reflect you back very clearly

[Anchovy]

I think I sort of thought it would be like having a very small flatmate and that I would be wafting around in an unspecifiedly parental way in the background.

There has been very little wafting, or indeed background.

[Anna8888]

That I - and my child - would spend quite so many hours a day naked.