Things You Know When You're A Parent....

Parenthood has it all: pride, joy, frustrations, and laughter. It is challenging and rewarding. Here are just a few of the things that I think most of us can relate to.

You know you’re a parent if….
-you could make a meal out of the crumbs in your car.
-you can easily find story time at the library by following the other mini-vans.
-you feel like you personally know Caillou, Dora, and Diego.
-you could recognize Julie Clark’s voice anywhere.
-you consider privacy in the bathroom a rare and precious occasion.
-you own any music by Laurie Berkner or Ralph’s World.
-you have ever been so thirsty that you have used your toddler’s sippy cup, in public.
-you find yourself spelling out swear words instead of saying them out loud.
-you continue to drive around even when you have reached your destination because wasting gas is better than losing a nap.
-you repeat things so often that you begin to hate the sound of your own voice.
-sleeping in is a distant memory.
-you can’t remember the last movie you saw in the theater that wasn’t rated G.
-“Happy Hour” is after the kids go to bed.
-you are thankful that “repeat play” is an option on the DVD.
-you eat lunch at 11:00 and dinner at 5:00.
-when your spouse hints about a night of “fun and games,” your first thought is Candy Land or Chutes and Ladders.
-you know what a binky, Bjorn and Bumbo are.
-you consider “good fashion” to be any article of clothing that is free from spit-up.
-the amount of vomit that comes out of a child doesn’t surprise you.
-when you get angry, you start counting loudly with no explanation. “ONE…. TWO!”
-you consider any day that you don’t get peed on, a good day.
-you know how to handle a temper tantrum with grace and poise.
-you know what the Happy Meal toy of the week is.
-you find yourself saying, “When I was YOUR age…”
-you know how important it is that every cupcake has THE SAME amount of sprinkles.
- Goldfish crackers, Teddy Grahams and fruit snacks are staples on your weekly grocery list.
-you think the person that replaced shoelaces with Velcro on kids’ shoes is BRILLIANT.
-you dread questions like “Where do babies come from?” and “Why can’t I see God?”
-you know which games at Chuck E Cheese reward the most tickets.
-you know that messing up the nap schedule could throw off the whole day.
-you notice bugs on the sidewalk and stop to look at them, even without your kids.
-you begin to see things again that you used to take for granted, like the moon or a flower.
-your child’s laughter is your favorite sound in the world.
-you wonder what your world would be like without your family but quickly snap out of your daydream as you are accidentally hit in the head with a toy.