I don’t know if it was because I had horrible dating luck & just gave up on the idea or I truly thought I would be horrible at it, but for the longest time, I was solely career focused & never had the desire to get married or start a family. All through college I worked with the public & then worked as a NICU nurse. I knew people with children & of course interacted with children all of the time. As a single, childless person, I SO ignorantly judged other people’s children & their parenting. Boy am I ever paying for that now!
I met my husband & my world was turned upside down & am now a hypocrite in the best way possible. 
When my daughter was born, I never thought I would feel so at home in the “Mother” role. I have never felt so destined to be anything else before in my life. She was a WONDERFUL infant. She slept through the night at a month old, never had feeding issues, was SO happy & mellow. I would spend hours on Pinterest as she was sleeping, while I was waiting for my husband to come home pinning recipes, crafts & activities that I could do with her since she was such a well behaved child.
I would bake, get creative with cupcakes, make wreaths, tutus & various holiday themed age-appropriate crafts with her while she sat in her walker/high chair/pack in play & she would play & watch & smile at me the whole time. It was amazing & I felt like supermom.
Then K turned 18 months old.
All of a sudden, my sweet, laid-back child turned into a demanding, impatient, fit-throwing beast.
Eating at a restaurant BEFORE:
Eating at a restaurant AFTER:
Necessity Shopping BEFORE:
Necessity Shopping AFTER:
Riding in the car BEFORE:
Riding in the car AFTER:
Daily interaction BEFORE:
Daily interaction AFTER:
My cookie cutter Mom fantasy burst into flames. What happened with my child that changed her? Our home life was EXACTLY the same. All I could think of was that she was in the dreaded Terrible Twos early. While they have decreased some , I am STILL dealing with DIVATUDE & she will be 3 in December. I was hoping it would be over early since it started early, but there is no end in sight. I get yelled at, have to pick her up off of the floors in stores, hit, snarled at & bossed around daily while picking up endless messes & trying not to lose it. I have tried reasoning, calm conversations, taking things away, spanking, time-out, yelling & even locking her in her room for a few minutes as punishment. NOTHING works.
Not wanting to be that mom who yells all of the time & loses it or stays in a corner rocking back & forth crying, I had to resort to medication to be more patient. While it works most of the time, I still have my days where plenty of tears are shed & a bottle of Moscato is opened.
I know kids have good days & bad days, I just wish our good days outnumbered the bad. She’s just an awesome singing, dancing, witty, intelligent & sassy little one when she is well behaved & having a good day. I just have to keep trucking along & enjoy the good moments while they last. Now please excuse me, I have been commanded to change another princess costume & to open a package as quickly as possible so she can pop the bubble wrap inside. Life with a tiny dictator, le sigh.
How do/did your parenting expectations vs. reality differ?
