Gettyimages.com/A multiethnic group of young friends enjoy good food and conversation together on a terrace outside on a summer evening. The focus is on an African American mother who is holding her infant daughter in her lap.
We can argue as much as we want that having kids doesn’t change a person, but might I argue that if having kids hasn’t changed you at all then…maybe you’re doing parenting…wrong? Parenthood is a huge deal. It should change you a little bit. Caring for another life, and making all decisions with another little human in mind, is bound to change a person’s outlook on life. And parenthood can be wonderful—it can make people better, more patient, wiser, and gentler. There are experiences of parenthood that people without kids just can’t understand. Now, that being said, when you are wrapped up in mommy hood, it can also be easy to lose touch with how the other side (non-parents) live, and what their priorities are. Of course childless individuals and parents can be friends. I have wonderful mommy friends. But can the friendship sometimes be hard for some? Of course. We’d be in denial if we didn’t acknowledge that.
Kids don’t abide by a schedule
Kids don’t care what time it is. Tantrums don’t abide by schedules. A picky eater doesn’t care what time you’re supposed to be out the door. Kids live by their own schedule, and they pretty much control the schedule of their parents. That just makes them hard to plan with.
