Anyway, going into parenting I feel the same way. We've been around enough families (and both separately lived with families with young children) to again not have rosetinted glasses on about the enormity of parenting. It is going to be our hardest job so far, we will probably struggle financially, I'll get particularly tired and will likely be grumpy or cry more with that. We haven't experienced being parents before, so it's interesting to me that many people are doing a similar thing with our engagement 'encouragement' and trying to give a wake-up call (or at least hint at) on how hard it is. We know how hard it is going to be. It scares us! So, I'm interested what is in the NZ psyche that we can assume that people have rosetinted glasses on for decisions in life and try and knock it out of them...is it part of the tall poppy syndrome?
My wake up call is to others, and myself, to listen to people and where their thinking is at before commenting one way or another.
To turn this into a positive rather than grumbly post though, this can be another topic for wisdom however, that of parenting... If you are a parent, what are some tips you have for growing a baby into a great little person... If you're not a parent, what are some things your parents did right when you were growing up?
Things I learned about parenting from my parents:
- Don't bite someone else you'll get a bite back.
- Be consistent with discipline, then the threat of discipline (e.g. a look) can be enough to stop you in your tracks
- Sometimes the best fun is the simplest (e.g. making dolls from pegs - I kid you not)
- Read and sing to your children. They'll always remember the ones you sang/read over and over.
