Life parenting r/AskReddit

‘What’s a harsh reality new parents need to hear?’ – 22 tips from battle-hardened mums and dads

Everyone knows that bringing up children isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, but people who haven’t experienced it yet tend to have a more rose-tinted view of it than the weary ones who have actually done their time in the trenches of parenthood.

Reddit user forty5v knows this, and posed the following succinct question:

‘What is a harsh reality new parents need to hear?’

And tired mums and dads with thousand yard stares were happy to speak up.

1.

‘You can tell your child to say please and thank you a billion times and they still might not do it. But say your neighbour is a dickhead for parking outside your house like that and your child will remember the word dickhead for months.’
Sgt_major_dodgy

2.

‘Kids learn by imitation, they will become what you are, not what you try to push on them. If you want to change them, you need to change yourself.’
kremata

3.

‘They won’t die from being told no.’
Aggravating-Low-3031

4.

‘Your child will not be a mini-you, and what works for you may not work for them.’
Professional-Mail857

5.

‘You have to accept that your child may not be perfect. Mentally, physically or emotionally. That’s the risk you take when you choose to have children.’
UpDown_TwistedAround

6.

‘Time is the most important commodity now. Spend it wisely. Quality is better than quantity, so don’t beat yourself up. Be present!’
PrintersBane

7.

‘Poo. So much poo.’
Octopus-Pawn

8.

‘You are raising your children in a different world than the one you grew up in.’
Diesel07012012

9.

‘Don’t expect too much sleep the first year. Also, until the day you die, you will be worrying to some degree about your children.’
tapdancinghellspawn

10.

‘You are not raising a child, you are raising an adult. You are raising a person to not need you, to be independent and not dependent. What seems like the right choice now, is not the right choice for their future. There is obviously times where what is needed is imperative, but it’s mostly a marathon. Parenting is bitter sweet.’
youknowthename

11.

‘Your child is not an angel. Your child is not mature for their age. Your child likely DID do what their teachers said. Stop coddling them.

At the same time. Your child will not remain an innocent child forever. Give them the talks when they’re age appropriate. Pick up the slack in the education system, especially there is about to be a hell of a lot of slack. It’s called the Gulf of Mexico.’
TastingTheKoolaid