Until I was a parent, I never understood why..........

[mharling]

please reply and fill in the blank!!

Mary & Lane 4/6/03
http://www.shutterfly.com/osnt.jsp?i=67b0de21b356c32425b2 - Halloween Pics!

[mharling]

people had snot-nosed kids!

Mary & Lane 4/6/03
http://www.shutterfly.com/osnt.jsp?i=67b0de21b356c32425b2 - Halloween Pics!

[MartiesMom2B]

people with kids never talked about anything except kids.

I also agree with the snot nose thing.

Sonia
Proud Mommy to Martie 4/6/03

[starrynight]

Someone would co-sleep.

I love snuggling with the kids sometimes, something I guess I didn'y "get" pre-kids. Although I still like my space sometimes ;).

[MelissaTC]

Moms would allow their toddlers to throw tantrums. "Why can't they control their children?" I would think to myself. "MY child will NEVER act that way". HA HA HA!!! :P The joys of toddlerhood...

[NEVE and TRISTAN]

Oh girlie my list is way to long...I'd shut down the server with over load. I agree to all of the above thus far :)...
Great question!!!
Neve
AKA "mama2be"-forgot password
and Baby Boy Tristan born @UNC
Feb 25, 2003
Brother to 3 pups "gees" and 2 kitties

[hez]

...all my mommy girlfriends got so teary-eyed over Lifetime movies involving moms & their kids. I *thought* I got it, but I never truly did 'til DS came along.

[jmofarrill]

so many mom's lost control to the "Mama Bear" instinct.

a mom would be willing to stop (temporarily or permanently) her career to stay home with her children (trying to make it an option over here!).

some people could never stop talking about their kids.

[deborah_r]

parent's were so obsessed with their baby's and young child's sleep. I thought they'd just sleep when they were tired!

[luvbeinmama]

moms let their children run up and down the aisles in the store! LOL!! :P

the last scene in Mercury Rising would make you cry.

[himom]

...you can't just let them cry it out.

If I tried it, I'd have ended up CIO instead. =(

--Jodi
Joshua Keoni's mom, 2/03

[toomanystrollers]

my mom lost her keys on a regular basis :)

[pamela mom of 3]

What you thought you would do, what you felt was either wrong or right with raising a child was so pie in the sky...till you're in it and dealing with only then do you truely know what your going to do{sometimes not even then ...lol :P}...i think all of us have "ideas" before the kids come.The Reality on the hand can be quite different.

Another would probably be the huge range of emotions...for one little person...i had seen it by mothers and even been told it...but only when again your in it do you "get it" ;)

:)

[lizamann]

people kept telling me when I was pregnant that it would be 4pm before I realized I hadn't brushed my teeth.

Ok, that doesn't happen very often, but before I was like "how hard can that be??"

[parkersmama]

The snotty nose thing is definitely my #1 answer!

But, also...stay-at-home-moms were so tired and couldn't get anything done! I mean, really, I was working a full-time job and could still get other stuff done...why couldn't they when they were home all day "alone"?? LOL! Of course, I completely learned my lesson there!! ;)

[Marisa6826]

people always said you don't know the capacity of your heart until you have a child.

SO TRUE!

-m

[amp]

...parents *let* their kids throw tantrums.
...why parents cave in when their kids cry (boy I hope I get over this one before he gets any older than 6.5 mths!!)
...talk only about their kids.
...how fiercely you love and want to protect your children.
...what an absolute miracle and gift your child is.
...how many times I would have to eat crow because I once said, "When I have kids, I'll never..." or "When I have kids I'll always..."!!!

[mrmansmom]

... people thought I cared about seeing an entire roll of pictures of their children. I now know that while I'm showing people (or lamp posts, or anything I can corral) rolls of film of DS I don't really care what they think because I'm so lost in his cute little smile and and expressions that I forget they're there half of the time. I think I'm really showing the photos to myself over and over again.

All of the other suggestions are good. I especially agree with the 'tantrums in the store' thoughts.

[jec2]

New parents are SO tired. Don't newborns sleep like 16 hours a day?!

[mharling]

thought of another one.....

...poop is such a frequent and normal topic of conversation.

Mary & Lane 4/6/03
http://www.shutterfly.com/osnt.jsp?i=67b0de21b356c32425b2 - Halloween Pics!

[luvbeinmama]

And more:

... we need sooo many nursery rhymes.

... a loving, caring, wonderful parent might feel the urge to defenestrate their infant child. (not that they would actually act on that urge)

... vacation plans must be rearranged JUST because you left an 18" x 22" piece of cloth AT HOME!!

[jmofarrill]

>... a loving, caring, wonderful parent might feel the urge to
>defenestrate their infant child. (not that they would
>actually act on that urge)

LOL - and I thought *I* had a large vocabulary! LOL I had to look this one up; here's what I found:

Main Entry: de·fen·es·tra·tion
Pronunciation: (")dE-"fe-n&-'strA-sh&n
Function: noun
Etymology: de- + Latin fenestra window
Date: 1620
: a throwing of a person or thing out of a window
- de·fen·es·trate /(")dE-'fe-n&-"strAt/ transitive verb

Yup, that's me (not that I would actually act on that urge, as you said!)

[mharling]

> ... a loving, caring, wonderful parent might feel the urge to defenestrate their infant child.

I am ROTFL!!!! I actually know this word. My college roommate took a course where the instructor would jokingly threaten to defenestrate one of the students. We STILL laugh about it and the word. :D

Mary & Lane 4/6/03
http://www.shutterfly.com/osnt.jsp?i=67b0de21b356c32425b2 - Halloween Pics!

[mik8]

my friend is still in her bathrobe with spits and stained sweatpants and hair unbrushed at 3:00 p.m.!

[blnony]

This one I learned yesterday....
Until I was parent I never understood why people at the grocery had to open things there and use them before they paid for them.
But...when you child has a sudden puke all over a new white sweater (that was stupid to get in the first place...) you have to open a box of napkins and a bottle of water to clean them off! :D

[houseof3boys]

Ha Ha, I have tons of them.

The constant discussion on poop, how could a SAHM be tired when all she does is stay home all day?, how come you can't get your child to stop crying?

[NEVE and TRISTAN]

I use to HATE it when my firends with kids would chat with me on the phone and then carry on a conversation with their children at the same time, I felt like I got 20% of the coversation and 80% of the time I was listening to them talking "baby talk" to their child. I'd actually say "why don't you call me back"...

WELL just caught myself doing the exact same thing
Neve
AKA "mama2be"-forgot password
and Baby Boy Tristan born @UNC
Feb 25, 2003
Brother to 3 pups "gees" and 2 kitties

[starrynight]

Neve, I feel so bad for anyone that calls me, especially the ones without kids LOL. Here is a typical conversation with me:

Hi, how are you?
"Alex stop hiting your sister"
Um what did you say sorry
"Daria get off the table"
Hi sorry about that..
"oops baby is crying hold on " proceed to pick up Eliza and then soothing "shhh shhh her"

Ya know what maybe I should call you back... LOL

So my old friends back home I try and write a letter (no I'm not kidding) or call after the kids are in bed or we would never be able to catch up.

And defenstrate-wow I though I knew all the big words ;). And yes I sometimes have that feeling. But of course I haven't done it yet and never would!

[lmintzer]

DH and I (pre-kids) always thought it was funny that parents referred to themselves in the 3d person (e.g., "Mommy will get you some milk"). When Jack became toddler-aged, we realized "Oh--they don't understand pronouns"). Pretty funny that a psychologist and a neurologist had no clue about this, lol!

Lisa
& Jack, 4/20/01
& Joshua, 11/16/03