How Parenting is Different Than What I Thought it Would Be

Choosing to become a parent is the most important decision someone can make. Becoming a parent is a lifelong commitment, something that there is no turning away from. Not only do you bring a child into this world but you are responsible for that child's well being. Everyone has an idea of what parenting is like before they have a child. There is a feeling of how things may go once a baby has entered the family, or how you will deal with situations once a newborn has arrived.

We all have an idea of what kind of a parent we will become once the baby is born. How much time we will spend playing and sharing priceless moments. From experience, I believe that every parent underestimates the amount of responsibility and time that will have to be dedicated to the child. We also seem to have an idea what parenting and motherhood will be like, but those are expectations and they are not always true to the point once parenting starts.

First, I never expected the amount of love I'd have for my child. I have always heard from other parents that you never love anything more than your children. This is of course easy to understand and believe, because there is nothing more important to a parent than their own child.

The first second I heard my son cry, I felt an indescribable amount of love for him. It felt stronger than the word love can describe.

Parenting also proved to be different than what I thought it would be. I believe I did not understand fully what 24/7 care of another individual is really like. Every waking second, every split-second of my day is spent taking care of my son. Even when he is not in front of me, or is asleep, I am finding myself thinking about him and his needs. Not that this is a bad thing, but my son is my life. Every decision I make is based around him and the way it will benefit his life.

I also always thought I'd be more of a strict parent. I believed that as a parent, I could put my foot down and have set rules. While there are rules that I'd like my son to follow, I catch myself breaking my own rules when it comes to parenting. For one, I always claimed that my son would sleep in his own crib and not in our bed. He has in fact spent many nap times or entire nights snuggled up next to me.

As much as I'd like to say that I can tell him he's not allowed to sleep in our bed, I find myself allowing him to sneak in between his dad and I. Another rule breaker was toys. I had always claimed that he would not be spoiled with too many toys, or that we'd not purchase everything under the sun for him. Yet, his first Christmas we found ourselves with an outrageous amount of toys and I find myself unable to pass a toy aisle without getting him something.

While parenting has proved to be different in some instances, it has only been out of love and joy. We have adapted to our life with a baby and he has adapted to bossing us around.