How have you changed your tune as a parent?

People in Woolies must have thought I was crazy the other day. Emily was screaming and kicking and going all sorts of crazy and I just held her tightly and paid her absolutely no attention and went on shopping as if nothing was wrong. Luckily she is tiny and I am not, so I could hold her with 1 hand and shop with the other. At 1 point, I did feel like laughing hysterically because I could not believe I was "THAT" parent. She eventually stopped when I gave her a biscuit. What she actually wanted was to go and run around in the parking lot.

Ha ha I remember my friends rolling their eyes at us when we spoke of ourselves as parents. They had the last laugh.

I sometimes thing oh boy I am that parent in the shop with the monster toddler. Where did things go wrong. Luckily he is a cute monster (I think so) and gets away with murder. Not at home though. Promise.

Too many to mention!

Insisted I would sleep train - oops
My child would fit in with me not tte other way around - Hahahahahaha
No teantrums in public because that's just bad parenting right? WRONG!
No junk food - lasted a year. Now it's flings and chocolate every other day!
No juice - same as junk food
No TV - don't even get me started!
No alcohol tasting - seriously champagne, beer, wine, there's cert little we don't let him try!
Would breastfeed for 6 weeks - breastfed a year instead
Woyod go back to work and leave baby with, well, anyone! Baby is 18m and i'm still home!

I find it hilarious when new tell me how it "will be" in the homes! The truth is you have no idea what kind of parent you are going to be or who your child is going to be. And from day 1 you just do whatever you can to stay sane and not throw your baby out the window most days!

I must admit, I quietly roll my eyes now when I see soon to be parents talking about the routines they are going to implement and all the things they will never allow thier children to do...

I was one of those naive parents

We were not going to use dummies, or co sleep or have to rock our child to sleep. At 1 she is still being rocked to sleep, loves her dummy at bedtime and when all hell breaks lose and we are all tired, she sleeps in our bed... we even invested in a hing size bed so we can all sleep comfortably

She would not have any sugar before her first birthday, well the grandparents put an end to that... but its all in moderation and she only gets treats over the weekend. holidays

things I did stick to:

breastfeeding past a year - we are just starting to wean now, this was a tough one as I nearly gave in so many times, it was just so hard and she had reflux and fought the feeds.
natural, pain med free birth (Hypnobirthing)
Routine in terms of bath and bedtime

The things that I said I would not do which I did in the end:

No TV - Migs watches ALOT of TV when she's at home (luckily at creche during the day where there is no TV!)

Being overprotective like my parents - to a certain extent I'm NOT as bad as my parents!! But I'm very protective over Migs, I'm especially scared of her running around the swimming pool (a literally go into a panic) and everyone except me thinks I'm over reacting!!

No sweets - sticked to that one until recently. I gave in to the pressure of MIL wanting to give Migs sweets and chips EVERY TIME she see's her. I limit her sweets at home though..only healthy snacks to creche and treats only a few times a week.

Dummy - I wanted the dummy to be stopped at 2 years, I doubt if it will happen before 3 years because of the emigration next year as well as the new addition to the family - will let her cling to that for a while still. (she only gets it at naptime/night). That feels like a big fail

No tantrums and giving a hiding - Migs throws a tantrum almost every time we're out and about It's getting better though!! And I don't give Migs hidings!!! I've smacked her once or twice and the way she looked at me - will never do it again!!

I said I'm never going to have more children

Things that I stuck to:

NO fizzy drinks (still fights with MIL about this EVERY SINGLE freaking time we visit them). She only drinks water and only gets juice once or twice a week.

Bedtime is bedtime! Latest 8:30.

Eating healthily - she loves her fruit and loved her veg until about a month ago

I always fantasized about being a good mother to my kids.I used to say that I will never give my baby a hiding and I gave birth to one stubborn girl,who there is no such a word as NO in her vocabulary and a hiding helps sometimes

I said she will have whatever she wanted,toys etc then my finances went haywire even though she gets toys every month there are times I have to explain that mommy is broke.

I said I will have big birthday parties for her but with the 1st party it was just useless for me to host such a big party where only adults will benefit.

Also didn't breastfeed her as she traumatized me,it only lasted for 6 weeks and I wanted it to be for longer.

I wanted to bond with my daughter from the word go but had to leave her at home since i was starting a new job and didn't have a place to stay as yet.

Don't get the potty training right as she is stubborn and I gave up so still on pampers.

I said I will never shout nor use strong words even though I keep to NONSENSE which she has now adopted

I will play house with her but her toys are her toys and she is rather rough for my liking

Can't keep to bedtime

Things that I have stuck too:
no playing outdoors unmonitored
no misbehaving in public(throwing tantrums)
no giving in to tantrums
natural hair,no chemicals at all

We will NOT co-sleep - yeah right!! When it's 2Am and you realise that you will be able to eventually get some sleep if you just put the child in your bed - then, that's what you do.

No dummy - Emily screamed her lungs out in the incubator where she had to stay because of jaundice and I could not bear it, so we stuck a dummy in her mouth and she has not let go of it since.

No tantrums

My child will NOT hit anyone

And I am sure there are plenty more!!

What I have stuck to:

Bedtime is bedtime. By 8:30, I want silence in my house.
No fizzy drinks and juice only on rare occassions. Thankfully Emily has decided she actually doesn't like juice and water is much better.
At least 1 good, healthy meal everyday, even on weekends!
Good breakfast everyday - no junk or skipping breakfast
Don't give in to tantrums - let's see how long this lasts, we have only been exposed to tantrums for the last 2 or so weeks.