What I have learned from my kids...so far.

God has generously blessed my husband and I with three healthy children and a fourth to make his appearance in August. I have said MANY times that my kids teach me regularly. They teach me as much if not more than I teach them. I am by no means in the ranks of a seasoned mom(my oldest is only 7) but I as I look back on these 7 years I can already see the many lessons I have gleaned from this crazy ride called parenting. So here is my list of 20 things I have learned so far. Some of them are funny(in my opinion), some serious, but all are part of me and our little circus.

1. Life rarely turns out like you plan. I know you can learn this without kids, but this was a lesson I learned from day one of being a mom. My first son was born after 8 hours of labor via c-section. I broke all the "rules" I had set for myself in the first 24 hours. I had severe postpartum depression for the first three months and the first 5 months or so of my boy's life out of my womb are a blur to me. Would I change any of that? No. As my husband says, "It is what it is." The unexpected makes life interesting, makes me wiser, and definitely helps my faith and my prayer life.

2. Hot dogs will survive a trip through the washer and the dryer.

3. Boys and girls are wonderfully different.

4. I can't look to my kids for emotional fulfillment. They are fallible humans just like me. They are incapable of filling the void in my heart. Only God can do that. My kids love me and I am over the top nuts about them. We let each other down. We can't help it.


5. Kids will show you your faults. ALL of them. I sometimes get mad at one of my boys for a response and then I realize it's the exact same response that would come from me.

6. When kids are tired(at least my kids) they add an extra syllable to words. For example, with a whiny voice, "Mommy" becomes "Mommy-a!" or "ow" become " oww-a!"

7. I need my own parents more today then I did before I had kids.

8. Baby powder when shaken lightly over an entire room takes a long time to clean up.

9. Sometimes it's better not to ask.

10. My kids are hilarious. Really.

11. I always knew how special a daddy/daughter bond could be; I just never realized how amazing it would be to watch my husband and daughter share one.

12. Just when you think you have your kid figured out they change.

13. God gave me a good man. Again, not necessary to have children to learn. But when I see my husband with my kids, and the way he loves them, I realize how blessed I am.

14. I can handle more than I thought.

15. Throw up no longer scares me and rarely grosses me out. 

16. Good mommy friends are a nessecity.

17. I was a much better parent before I had kids.

18. I am now so thankful for the time of day called, "bedtime".

19. I now understand the phrase, "Pride and joy".

20. It is only by God's amazing grace that I have accomplished any good in raising my kids. Being a parent is so hard but the Lord has been so faithful.