There will be no season of your life where you will spend more time with other people than when your kids are small. And, you will spend a lot of time with these tiny folks who have no concept of personal space or privacy – so much time that you will change. It won't be a sudden change. You won't wake up one morning and have an urge to ask someone 40 questions in a minute and a half. It's a gradual change, over time. Before you know it:
1 | You shout "Yay!" after anyone does anything.
2 | You ask your spouse if they have to go potty.
3 | Everything you eat needs a dipping sauce.
4 | You prefer the blue cup.
5 | You have to announce every single thing you are doing around the house.
6 | You find yourself becoming averse to all forms of green vegetables.
7 | You don't see a need to change out of your pajamas if you have no place to be.
8 | You don't see a need to change out of your pajamas.
9 | You prefer straws.
10 | You find yourself watching an episode of Paw Patrol when no kids are around and think, "Oooh, I haven't seen this one yet."
11 | You tell a story and end up telling four stories at once and finally end with a story that has nothing to do with the one you started telling.
12 | You catch yourself losing your fuse and think, "I really need a time-out right now."
13 | You make the worst excuses for cleaning anything up like, “I can’t. My legs are so tired of walking around this house."
14 | You ask yourself questions like, “Why doesn’t the cat have lips?"
15 | You get really quiet when you don’t want anyone to know what you’re doing.
16 | You can never find any shoes that match and you don’t seem to care.
17 | You’re perfectly happy eating cereal for dinner four nights in a row.
18 | The last twelve books you read were either written by Dr. Seuss or Laura Numeroff.
19 | You think it’s a perfectly fine idea to give a moose a muffin.
20 | You agree that blanket fort is a great place to dine. On cereal.
21 | You get excited because Peppa Pig is on.
22 | You eat Eggo waffles without a fork.
23 | You are more comfortable with a night light at bedtime.
24 | You embrace Play-Doh as the new yoga.
25 | It’s difficult to sleep in a bed that doesn’t have rogue toys milling around it.
Really, it's not so bad. These tiny folks will bring so much joy into your life and teach you things nothing else could teach you, like love, patience, an appreciation for the simple things in life, and the fact that it's possible to put your socks on upside down. You'll likely outgrow these little habits just as they will, and thankfully, one day, it’ll be less than 40 questions at one time. There’s a rumor going around that the “yay!” response never goes away.
ParentCo.
Author