I Get It Now.
The Things You Don’t Understand Until You Become a Parent
I get it now. How hard parenting really is and the many different reasons why. Some parts are universally hard, while other parts become personal the moment you have children of your own.
I understand my parents differently now. I understand the weight behind the decisions they made while raising my sister and me. I understand why my mom still never turns her phone off because motherhood is a 24/7 responsibility that never truly ends. I understand why my dad used to “fall asleep” in the recliner when my sister and I started driving. He wasn’t really sleeping. He was waiting for us to come home safely.
As a kid, I didn’t understand any of it. Even into adulthood, it still hadn’t fully clicked yet.
Then I became a parent.
And suddenly, I got it.
Parenting Changes the Way You See Everything
Becoming a parent completely changed my perspective on life and the world around me. At the center of every decision are my two boys.
People say parenting is like having your heart walk around outside your body, and that is truly the most accurate description I’ve ever heard. It is beautiful and terrifying all at once.
Every stage of parenting comes with small pieces of freedom for your child and large pieces of fear for you. Little by little, they need you less. And little by little, you learn how to let go.
That’s the heartbreaking part of parenting no one talks about enough.
But isn’t that the entire point?
We raise our children hoping they become independent, capable, kind humans. With every stage, we hope our guidance is preparing them for the world a little more than the day before.
Parenting Is a Constant Dance Between Fear and Freedom
I get it now. Parenting is a slow dance between freedom and fear.
Some moments lean toward joy and freedom. Other moments pull you straight into fear and worry.
And the truth is, parenting is one of those experiences you truly do not understand until you live it yourself.
People can share their stories, advice, and experiences. You can read books, listen to podcasts, and collect all the parenting tips in the world. But none of it becomes real until it’s your child, your decisions, your sleepless nights, and your love on the line.
There is no perfect playbook for raising children.
Every child is different.
Every parent is learning.
Every family is figuring it out in real time.
Which honestly feels wild when you stop and think about it.
We are all out here doing the best we can while being entrusted with the safety, security, and emotional well-being of entire human beings.
Parenting Will Expose Every Part of You
Do I make mistakes and say things to my children that I wish I could take back sometimes?
Absolutely.
Probably daily.
But I’m human, and parenting did not come with instructions.
One thing I do differently now is apologize more than I ever used to. I want my children to see that making mistakes is part of being human. I want them to know there is room for accountability, forgiveness, and trying again.
Parenting has a way of exposing every unresolved part of yourself.
Your flaws suddenly feel louder because now they don’t just impact you — they impact your children too.
That realization is humbling.
Painfully humbling at times.
Our Children Become Our Greatest Teachers
I get it now. Our children are both our greatest blessings and our harshest teachers.
Before becoming a mother, I thought I knew myself pretty well. And in many ways, I did.
But my children handed me entirely new lenses to look at myself through. They uncovered parts of me I had consciously and subconsciously avoided for years.
Because honestly, who willingly wants to confront the most uncomfortable parts of themselves?
No one.
But parenting has a way of cracking you wide open anyway.
It leaves you exposed.
Tender.
Constantly growing.
Sometimes it feels like parenting pulls your pride and ego apart piece by piece until all you can do is rebuild yourself softer than before.
The Hardest and Most Beautiful Thing I’ve Ever Done
I get it now. Parenting is the hardest thing I have ever done.
But it is also the most rewarding.
There is nothing more beautiful than watching little versions of yourself run through the world with wonder in their eyes. Nothing is more healing than seeing life through them.
Parenting has exhausted me, stretched me, humbled me, and changed me in ways I never expected.
And somehow, through all of it, I keep coming back to the same thought:
I get it now.
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