10 things I said I’d never do after becoming a parent

We all judge. It’s a part of human nature. I’m sure you’ve been in the moment where, at the grocery store, you hear a screaming child and think to yourself “If that was my kid, I’d have her straightened out right quick! I’ll never let a kid of mine act like that.” I know I’ve been there, thinking those thoughts before.

I had a few “I’ll never”s before I got pregnant, and even while I was pregnant. Now, in the midst of actual, real-life parenting, I’ve watched those “I’ll never”s turn into “well just this one time” or…in some cases…I’ve watched them become the norm.

Here are my top 10 “I’ll never”s, in no particular order –

1. I’ll never let my kid chew on my [insert expensive item here].

I’ve let Ezra chew on my Coach wristlet more times than I can count. He likes the squishyness of the wristlet part against his gums. And it keeps him quiet while we’re waiting in line somewhere. I just think of it as the most expensive teething toy I’ve ever bought.

2. I’ll never let my child sleep in my bed.

Uh yeah… done that more times than I know what to do with. Sometimes because I wanted to – gasp! – other times because it was the only way we’d all get some sleep.

3. I’ll never let my house look like it’s the Toys R Us annex.

It happened. Moving on.

4. I’ll never let my chores/laundry/etc…get so far behind I won’t be able to keep up.

I’m actually not too bad on the chores, but the laundry is another story entirely. It’s a good day if there are actual folded clothes awaiting us in our drawers. Usually the drill is to go down to the laundry room and scrounge through the clean pile for something halfway decent and mostly unwrinkled to wear. Life’s too short to worry about put-away clothes, amiright??

5. I’ll never let the dog steal any of the baby’s toys, or vice versa.

Definitely easier said than done. A dog and baby are basically on the same level mentally and they don’t exactly understand phrases like “Ezra, that toy belongs to Aslan” or “Aslan, you can’t eat Ezra’s stuffed animals.” I do my best… but I’m not going to lie. It’s possible the dog has an increase in stuffed animals toys and it’s possible Ezra might have once been caught with a dog jerky in his mouth.

6. I’ll never feed my child anything other than wholesome, good foods.

I stick with this for the most part *but* those cans of cheesy poofs that Gerber makes? Yeah those definitely aren’t wholesome, but they are a staple around here as an appetizer before the main meal. They also work as bait to trick Ezra into taking a few steps toward me. Slightly related, I always thought that it would be a ton easier to just make your own baby food. Turns out, it’s not. It’s kind of time consuming. If it’s something you want to do, I really recommend doing it when you’ll have someone around to help with the baby or else make a ton when they’re a newborn and freeze it – because you’ll have more free time then than when they get older.

No, my child was not drinking a white chocolate mocha. But I sure was.

7. I’ll never be one of those moms who wears yoga pants all day long

Yes, I am that mom. It wasn’t much of a stretch for me, though, because I was no stranger to wearing yoga pants a ton. But they’re just more comfortable and easier to maneuver around in now that Ezra is so much more mobile. I do, however, try to slap on some jeans when we go out some place to eat or something!

8. I’ll never let my baby cry it out.

I’ve alluded to this a little already, but yes … as a last resort, we decided to try to let Ezra cry it out to sleep in order to help him learn to soothe himself to sleep at night. We weren’t seeing a lot of success, as a sidenote, until I realized night weaning and CIO are separate issues. Since then, it’s been a ton easier. Judge if you’d like, but when all else failed, this seemed to work for our situation.

9. I’ll never let pregnancy/motherhood be an excuse to not exercise.

Ha!! I use it as an excuse all the time. Actually, I use being tired as an excuse but that is directly related to motherhood right now. My free time is pretty limited – basically it’s just in the evenings – and I don’t want to spend it at a gym. So I don’t. So there.

10. I’ll never try cloth diapers because they are gross.

I thought they were gross … but, they aren’t. I gave them a shot and, surprisingly, really loved them. I’m glad I changed my mind on this particular point because we are saving a good amount of money, which is always a plus!

Some were silly, some were more serious, but they were all thoughts I had at some point during my pregnancy or before getting pregnant. What were your “I’ll never”s?