Ten great things you can only do once you’re a parent

June 6, 2013

Paddling pool

Writing my post on the things you must do before the baby arrives (drink all the wine! Wear white! Concentrate on something for longer than about 20 seconds!) it occurred to me that even though there’s lots you can’t do any longer, becoming a mum or dad opens the doors to a lot more fun things you can do now.

It’s not all sleepless nights, sick and nappy changes – here’s my top ten parenting guilty pleasures aka all the things you can only do once you’re a parent:

  1. Gain a certain satisfaction from making stacking cup towers, wooden brick buildings and intricate Duplo constructions (How much more fun are children’s toys now? I’d be lying if I said the reason for our impending move wasn’t partly to the need for more space for a toy kitchen, ball pit and tipi…for the toddler, of course)
  2. And swings, slides and paddling pools are all guilty playground pleasures you can totally relive with a mini-you. There’s a whole loud of Prostian rushes and reminders about your own childhood to be had here
  3. ‘Help’ them eat their dinner…especially fish fingers and spaghetti hoops
  4. Even if you’re on a no-clothes buying ban, it’s fine – and a lot more fun – to buy them for your children (they grow out of them so quickly, they’re really cheap…oh look, there’s another a sparkly tutu)
  5. Dress vicariously through them. Clashing colours, mismatched prints, odd combinations; while I’d never dream of wearing such outfits, they all look great on my child
  6. And you can always dress them in Christmas costumes
  7. When you’re reading the books again and again, it’s fine to paraphrase and make up the story; they’ll still sit there enraptured
  8. Teach them things such as singing the ‘E I E I O’ bit of Old Macdonald on demand. This kept us entertained during hours of holiday car journeys
  9. Eat loads of cake, guilt-free. And it’s practically a parenting prerequestite to drink wine whenever necessary – most days are hard, right?
  10. Don’t feel bad for never having any social plans. There’s no pressure to go out if you don’t want…ever again

This is my top ten; again, let me know any more I’ve missed!

9 Comments

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  • Dawn Frazier

    June 6, 2013 at 12:54 pm

    At Halloween, when my children have collected loads of sweets, I have to ‘help’ them eat some of them, so that I’m helping save their little teeth!

  • JJ

    June 6, 2013 at 9:08 pm

    Great idea and refreshing. I’ve realised I’ve now joined the legions of mums who seem to dwell on the negatives and what they no longer do, rather than what they’re now able to do – so good to be reminded of these. My favourite is entertaining my little one – I can dance, sing and be generally silly and get rewarded with a delighted smile rather than a groan.

  • Alison, Not Another Mummy Blog

    June 9, 2013 at 9:46 pm

    Brilliant, brilliant! Feel like I could have written every one myself.

  • victoriananana

    June 11, 2013 at 1:06 pm

    Colouring in is a joy I’ve rediscovered! My daughter gets bored after about two minutes and I find myself getting quite carried away with the right shade of blue for the sky and how neatly I can colour in the lines.

  • Emily Dew

    June 11, 2013 at 7:42 pm

    I “helped” Freddie eat all his Easter eggs as chocolate is very bad for babies!

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