Parenting - the best things of all times, the hardest thing of all times

We all have our expectations from parenting. They are vastly different, as some of us grow up in big families and might be excited for all the fun, craziness, and excitement that parenting comes with, yet hate the sleepless nights and exhaustion. Many others can be terrified that their tiny humans aren't "operating" as expected and dread judgement from others, but absolutely LOVE the peaceful sleepy snuggles they come with. We are all different, so are our kids, our families, our expectations, our likes and dislikes. Did you ever stop and think about what your favorite things are about being a parent? What about the most challenging things? Self reflection is key to understanding, it helps is "wipe" the lens we perceive our lives and parenting through, so we did self reflect on this and would love to share some of the most prominent answers :)

It's amazing to be a parent. - In many ways, you get to relive childhood again through your child’s eyes. When we grow up, many things don’t excite us as much any longer. Christmas? Yeah, great - but nowhere near counting days and jumping with glee. Halloween? Sure, some of us have fun with dress up, but could it possibly come close to all the joy they get from trick or treating? All of those things they get to experience fore the first time: snow, ocean, zoo, ice cream truck, bouncy house, even a merry go round - you name it. Sometimes we wake our inner child up and get excited about things of course, but seeing a child’s eyes light up at the sight of a Christmas tree and a pile of gifts is a completely different ball game 😉 They squeak with happiness and you can’t help but squeak with them!

- Someone needs you. Always, at any given moment of day and night, especially in those few years. A tiny hand squeezing yours to express love or to ask for support. Unconditional love and NEED for us is beyond what is possible to explain in any language known to humans. Even though it can get tough at times, this kind of unconditional acceptance is definitely one of those amazing experiences we only can feel as a child, or a parent.

- You always have a snuggle buddy! Well, at least for several years to come. I think many have experienced the immense joy of your tiny human running to you to give you a hug. It's literally incomparable to pretty much anything else in life, so I'll just leave it at that.

- You get to be a magician, a real one. Or at least as real as it gets in our world. You can make their dreams come true, their eyes light up with disbelief and purest joy in the world. It’s absolutely amazing. Worth all the sleepless nights and exhaustion. Especially considering that those days pass and you somehow forget, just as you forget the labor pains. But these happy magic filled moments stay with us, and most importantly, stay in their big little hearts

- Watching them grow and change, becoming their own human beings, and helping shape it. Seeing their little quirks and idiosyncrasies develop. Seeing their firsts, hearing their funnies, having the honor of being the safe place for their little yet such big sorrows. Being there for all of it. Seeing their interests form, develop, and change, first friends, first loves, even first heartbreaks. Witnessing a whole new person form. How amazing is that?

Yet...

Parenting can be hard too.

- The first thing that new parents, and often toddler parents will talk about is of course sleep deprivation. Waking up every few hours (and way more often in some cases) is not just exhausting. In the moment it seems like torture, and if takes them years to get through this stage, it can be really tolling on our relationships, works, even mental health. Exhaustion is tough, especially in the modern day and age when we live in dispersed communities and rarely we have our "village" to be there and help us through it. We weren't meant to parent alone, so this is a by-product of the way our world operates, but this is our reality. Yet the nights are long, and the days are short. And if you are struggling with lack of sleep and exhaustion right now, mama, know we've been there. It's not forever!

- Every day little things can get to you. Spending hours trying to get your toddler ready to leave the house. Endless cleanup. Literally, eeeeeendless. And laundry. And more cleanup. Did I mention cleanup? I am yet to visit a home with small kids in it that can stay in a relatively clean state for over 10 minutes... The key here is learn to let it go!

- Tears, tantrums, and more tears. It can be hard to deal with, yet even harder to cope with our own inability to comfort them. It starts with the tiny thing like a toy that mean girl at the playground refused to share, and it only gets more challenging when you approach more challenging things in life, things they can't change, and we can't change fore them. Death, loss, heartbreak - all of those things are a part of their world too, however much we'd like to shield them. It's tough. Yet also unbelievably beautiful.

So is parenting.