A shining example vs. a horrible warning

herdaily.com

My baby sister is about to have her first child. Poor thing. I love her but am having a hard time being supportive as well as not scaring the shit out of her. I haven’t held back my complaints about parenting my own children and can’t imagine why she wants to do it. I am certain that if I had known what was in store for me I would have thought twice, and then gotten my tubes tied.

I suggested they get a puppy but she said dogs are a big responsibility and it would be hard to travel. Hmm…when we go out of town we leave our dog here and have neighbors feed and walk her. My children require more attention than two walks and a half a can of food a day. And you don’t have the option of leaving them in a kennel.

When I first became a parent it was as if I had signed a life-long contract without reading the job description listing the necessary qualifications. Eggs? Check. Sperm? Check. Nurturing spirit, patience, and kindness? Wait, what?

I don’t know what I was thinking; I never got along all that well with children even when I was one myself. I had heard that children are like a mirror, showing your own true self. Nobody warned me it could be like one of those fun house mirrors, which takes the worst qualities and exaggerates them.

I married in my 30s and my only friends with children lived far away. There was nobody close by who knew me well enough to stop me.

Before I knew it, I was pregnant. And the next thing I knew I had two little boys.

I blinked and then they were six and nine.

What happened? These past 10 years are a blur of diapers, laundry, tears, more laundry and lots of whining. I’m still not sure what I am doing half the time.

Hasn’t my sister been listening to me? Has she never watched her own wedding video where my toddler howled through her vows?

Perhaps she can learn from my mistakes. With all of my sage advice she can’t do any worse than I did.

Besides, what are the chances that she will have kids as challenging as mine?