Motherhood: Lessons learned

There were many pieces of advice given to me as I began my journey into motherhood. Some of it was helpful, some not so much.

I learned to smile, nod and thank those who offered their wisdom...then promptly forget about it when they were out of sight. This helped in many instances, but there were times that I wished I had listened a little more carefully and put into practice what these 'seasoned' mothers were offering.

Don't ever say 'my child would never do that' before your child is so far beyond the age where he/she would even attempt it, that it's safe to say it.

I distinctly remember telling my Mother that my children would never have access to scissors before Kindergarten, so there was no way they'd ever have the chance to cut each others' hair (like I had done to my sister).

Less than two weeks later I was in tears as I took my oldest daughter (3 at the time) to get her hair 'fixed' after her big brother had butchered it by cutting off her two pigtails.




Don't stress over the potty training stage, most kids are out of diapers before they graduate High School.

I had myself convinced my oldest son was to be the first child that would never use a toilet.

Ever.

I introduced him to the white throne when he was 2. I do believe I heard laughter as it dawned on him exactly what I wanted him to do while sitting on this fixture. He teased me for a full year with 'Mommy I have to pee' followed by 'just kidding', all the while wetting his pants.

My mother in law had him trained in less than a week by letting him go buck naked in her garden. I wish I hadn't wasted so much energy stressing.

Bribery is nothing to be ashamed of. Most days it's a choice: Either bribe your children to behave while grocery shopping, or starve.

It was so easy to state that I would never entice good behaviour with promises of goodies or games before I had toddlers. I couldn't tell you how many times I would look down on my friends with toddlers as they begged them to just behave this one time. I would even offer advice about being more strict and authoritative in order to have them behave. It was so easy to take this attitude when I was only dealing with a single innocent newborn.

Yep, I had it all figured out....until my baby reached about 18 months and became a screamer! Oh how I wish my friends had just knocked some sense into me back then! (actually, I'm surprised they didn't smack me for my ignorance)

I know there are more lessons to be learned, but those ones seem to sum up the ones that I learned the hard way.