10 things you said you wouldn’t do with your children-but do

When you’re pregnant with your first child and just after you’ve had it, you enter a period of utopia where you imagine everything to be perfect.

Clean, fluffy blankets. Everything is new. You imagine a set of ideals in your head, a goalpost of sorts which you measure everything against.

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Some time later, these goal posts are thrown out of the window. Usually when reality kicks in that we are not perfect.

I thought it would be funny to share what my goalposts were and how long it took me to get rid of them.

Bottle feeding.

The idea-I would take to breast feeding like a duck to water. Baby would latch on and I would continue doing so until she was 17 or so.

The reality-she wouldn’t latch on. Even when I rang the midwife to help me, baby latched on like a dream until the midwife left the house. I lasted two weeks and then, reluctantly, bottle fed. I still feel guilty about it but there it is.

Dummies

I blogged about this recently (see https://farmerswifeandmummy.com/2014/02/08/dummies-the-heroin-of-the-nursery/ I really, really didn’t want Boo to have a dummy but guess what? Three years later she has one. There are worse things at sea-I can cope with this one.

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Pre-packed baby food

The dream-my inner domestic goddess would appear. I would cook wholesome little meals and freeze them in ice-cube trays.

The reality-while I did stew apples, liquidise carrots and try to get to grips why broccoli wouldn’t purée, sometimes I was just too tired. I might forget to get a little tub out of the freezer or the hubster would be hay-making so I would only have soup for dinner. Not to mention the phase we went through where Boo would only eat Ella’s Kitchen pouches. It could have been worse. At least Ella’s Kitchen is natural and was the closest to tasting like what I cooked. Some people are of the mind that if children refuse to eat your meals they should go without but babies aren’t doing it on purpose. Boo came out of the pouch stage on the other side.

Chocolate

The dream-Boo will never eat chocolate. It is a non-food with no nutritional value.

The reality-I lasted until she was nearly one before she had her first taste of the creamy stuff. I thought that was good going. I understand there is no nutritional value in it but at the same time, it is a lovely treat so, I didn’t think, in the end, that having chocolate was so bad. When I saw other one-year-olds enjoying it, I felt a bit sorry for Boo that she was missing out.

Chicken nuggets

The dream-Boo will never eat processed food.

The reality-for some reason, the first taste of chicken nuggets is like an awakening in children. Have you noticed that when you eat out they are on every menu? I remember when we went out for Boo’s first birthday and I ordered spaghetti bolognaise for her, the waiter actually said he was impressed because it was the first pasta he had served to a baby-‘they usually order chicken nuggets.’ Now fast forward another two years and, I’m afraid, I do allow the odd chicken nugget to pass those lovely, little lips. Like chocolate, in moderation, chicken nuggets can be a nice little treat.

 Peppa Pig

The dream-When I was pregnant and I used to see all of these little outfits with featuring Peppa and George, I used to wince. ‘No child of mine will ever wear anything Peppa Pig,’ I told my mum.

The reality-what a fool I was. Peppa Pig is ingrained in our society as much as red post boxes I’m afraid. It is a right of passage for tots to oink at their parents, jump in muddy puddles and demand Peppa is put on the TV. I’ve stopped fighting now and do you know what? I actually enjoy Peppa Pig now-maybe I’ve been brainwashed…if you google Peppa Pig, there are a lot of conspiracy theories out there about that lovable little pink hog.

Shouting

The dream-where we lived before, one of our neighbours used to shout at her child all the time. Boo was only 18-ish months when we moved to the farm so I vowed to myself that I would never shout at Boo.

The reality-I try not to shout when she is doing naughty things but if what she is doing is going to be a danger to her own life (or the dog’s) I admit it, I shout. If only to get her attention to stop her from falling into the bath head first, force-feeding banana to the dog or stopping her from launching herself off something. Before I had Boo, it was easy to have this rose-tinted idea of what discipline would be like. However on the front line of parenting a cheeky little girl, it is very hard remaining calm. I have even taken to watching the way other parents discipline their children and copying. One woman used to get down to her child’s level and say (sternly) ‘this is mummy’s sad face’ waving her finger in a circular movement around her face. I liked this technique and adopted it myself but Boo started waving her own finger around her face while I was doing it and it took all my strength not to laugh. OK, I laughed. Once you laugh during a stern ticking off, the discipline is over. Back to the drawing board,

Television

The dream-Boo would not watch television every day. Like chocolate and chicken nuggets, it would be an occasional treat.

The reality-see Peppa Pig. We started off with CBeebies which I actually enjoyed. Only new parents can have full blown conversations with their friends about whether the creators of In the Night Garden were on drugs, how much they like/dislike Nanny Plum’s voice and which character they like best in Peppa Pig. At the dinner table the other night, I said to the hubster-if you were a Peppa Pig character, you’d be Mr Bull. Who would I be?’ Being the funny farmer that he is, he admitted he had never thought about it. No, Boo does watch television most days. We turn it off if we’re playing or doing an activity but seriously? I wouldn’t get any house work done if it wasn’t for Nick Junior or Cbeebies.

Sleeping in Our Bed

The dream-every time Boo gets up in the night, I will duly march her back to her own bed and sit with her until she goes back to sleep.

The reality-I am tired. It is easier to drag her into our bed and have, what I call a full house. Thankfully we have a kingsize bed but even that can be a squash with a star-fish toddler and a big, burly farmer. It doesn’t happen every night but we can go through phases where she might sneak into our bed for a few nights in a row. The rule is, if her feet touch the floor when she wakes up, the chances of getting her back to sleep in her own bed are slim. When you have to be up at 5 the next day, what else can we do? Hubster has said it would have been easier if we’d just put Boo’s bed in our room but  I am determined to muddle through.

HAPPYLAND

 Plastic fantastic

The dream-Boo would only play with wooden, natural looking toys that had some of educational purpose. There would be no plastic in this house.

The reality-my house is full of plastic, much of it pink and Boo loves it. It makes a horrible sound, most of it has horrible tunes that infiltrate into your brain like a virus but look round the shops-most of the toys out there are plastic, so when people buy your child gifts, this is what you get. They key is to embrace the great plasticity. Don’t fight it, you won’t win.

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49 Comments

  1. Haha brilliant. I had very much the same ideals and have ‘caved’ in much the same ways as you. The odd bit of chocolate and chicken nuggets as a treat doesn’t hurt, and TV in moderation can help spark the imagination. It’s also a necessity when you’re up at 5am and waiting for the caffeine to kick in!
    Thank you for linking up with #BlinkyLinky

  2. Haha! I love this post because it’s all true! I’m guilty of all the above, especially the dummy one!! Thanks for linking up #binkylinky

  3. This is great and I can relate to many of them! My sister is super healthy with her kids and they play outside and never watch TV but that’s because they are like that as a family anyway. I soon realised that I can’t enforce rules (like no treats) when I’m stuffing my face with chocolate!

  4. Very funny and so true. I think you can prepare for having a child for 9 months but when one actually arrives, parenthood turns out to be pretty different to what you expected. I think we’ve all given up on some aspect of how we had thought we would parent.

  5. We all do it, don’t we? I tried to breastfeed both mine, didn’t work! I shout and we watch way too much TV. The reality is crude but we have to accept it and ourselves ;-)?

  6. Lol I wrote a post just like this after I had my two. I thnk we all have an idea of how it should be but you never really know until you actually have kids 🙂 #PoCoLo

  7. HAHA! I really love this post!! The only one on this list that i have never done is having the kids sleep in my bed! Hell no! That MY bed! 😀 Great post! 🙂

  8. I’ve done almost all of these too, especially with my youngest daughter, pretty sure she had chocolate before her first birthday and Peppa was one of her first words, much to my embarrassment! My 4 year old will not try any new food though, including chicken nuggets!

  9. lol this post made me laugh out loud. It reminded me of my mentality before my first was born, and it went completely out of the window! I didn’t even bother picking it back up with my second! Jar food, junk food, telly, co sleep, all been there done them! This is real parenting 😉 x

  10. Brilliant! So true, although think its a right of passage mums to be need to go through!
    I also love Peppa as much as my daughter and the sticker album… Well my husband does it with her and loves it! Think he has more fun!

  11. I think even though you did some of these things she will still grow up to be a lovely young lady 🙂 I love the pic of her with food everywhere lol! x

  12. I love this and I can so relate to everything you’ve said. I tried hard with the first; breast feeding, making purées etc. second child was a bit of a mixed bag. But by the third child all of my ideals had gone completely out of the window!

  13. This is so great, there is a lot in the US right now about ‘mommy wars’ and how mothers pretend to have it all figured out and that they feed their children home-made food all the time, partake in educational activities all the time, never yell at them etc. It only makes it harder for all of us real people out there. Kudos to you for speaking the truth!

  14. Great post. I can relate to some of this but I’m a big believer in moderation so never planned to avoid all tv, plastic toys, peppa pig etc. I suspect though 12 months from now I’ll be tolerating even more though!

  15. Love, love this post. It couldn’t be more true!!!! Thank you for sharing this. I enjoyed reading it and nodding in agreement to most of it. i think we all can relate. #sharefriday

  16. Brilliant post! We’re so full of ideals when we’re pregnant and the reality often ends up very different. Doesn’t mean we’re not all wonderful mums though – we just need to give ourselves credit! I was the same – I managed to breastfeed for about 4 weeks; I just couldn’t do it. It was stressful, he was hungry, I was in agony. I felt so guilty about it but actually, it all worked out fine. I can relate to so much of this post!

  17. It’s nice to read someone else admit it, my husband and I were just talking about how we had decided (before kids) that they wouldn’t watch tv. Ha! That didn’t last long!

  18. I love this and agree with all of it. My little boy went through the Ella’s Kitchen phase too and that was all he’d eat, although he doesn’t like chocolate one little bit.
    I was adamant he wouldn’t have a dummy and tried to stick to it until one Sunday when he was about 5 weeks he wouldn’t stop crying and my mother-in-law suggested a dummy. As soon as it was in his mouth he went straight to sleep, and was perfectly content. I’m just trying to decide now when the dummy fairy should make a visit!

  19. Great post and all true! I remember thinking all the same things only for reality to step in and blow everything out of the water. After four children I have learnt to go with the flow and if the child is happy and loved just follow your instincts and enjoy!

  20. I think like your self I went back on everything I ever said I wasn’t going to do, but eventually even if you stuck by what you said they will be exposed eventually, these days I try not to be so hard on myself! great post xx

  21. Great post, we’ve all been there. I’m with you on the bedsharing, and you know what? I don’t feel guilty at all. Infact, I really like it. They won’t be young for long. Make the most of the cuddles. #pocolo

    1. Haha love this! The bed part is especially true, this is one of the things you tell yourself constantly, last night was just a wee blip, tonight you will definately get in and put them back to bed, and it never happens! Also, Peppa pig is just awful, I hate it with a passion, but of course it’s my daughters favourite haha!x

  22. This is BRILLIANT! I can really relate to so much of this list – especially the dummy one!! When she was born, I said never and by the time Grace was 3 months old she had one because it helped her colic. Thank you so much for linking to PoCoLo 🙂 x

  23. Oohhh, the plastic, I can definitely relate to that one. My mother did laugh when I said there would be no plastic and then laughed even more when she saw what my son had for his first birthday. Best laid plans and all that… Good post!

  24. Love this! Very true.
    I saw a card the other day saying “oh, your child is 3 months…please continue telling me how to raise my toddler!! Yup, we’ve all done it.

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