Is there anything that has surprised you since becoming a parent, about kids?

One of my surprises is the toybox. Before kids, I thought it was for toys. HA! That's the place for items the child never wants to see again. It's really the land of misfit toys.

Where are all the real toys? That would be any place you'd keep your sacred heirlooms. That new baby will get into anything in the heirloom chest, and those irreplaceable photos and momentos make great toys! Fortunately, there's a place to put them all where they're absolutely safe. The toy chest! He'll never think to look there.

Yes, the toy box is the best place to put things you don't want your kids getting
into....And if you want your child to play with a toy that has been long-forgotten just tell him you are going to give it away, then it becomes very, very important again......

I've learned a lot about stepping on Legos at 4:00 A.M. when I'm trying to get to
the bathroom!!

Something that has surprised me about becoming a parent is how much I've
learned from my kids...I thought I'd be teaching them, but they are teaching me as well......it's a mutual learning experience.

It is often a surprise to learn how the rest of the world sees us.

I had just been through a divorce. My ex-wife had taken the children and fled the state. I was at the Credit Union applying for a loan, and the loan officer asked me why I didn't have at least one of the girls with me. The conversation that ensued surprised both of us. She had known me for 21 years at that point, and "never seen me" without at least one of my children; whether at the Credit Union, in the bakery, at a restaurant, school, etc. "I never once saw your wife with the children. I can't imagine how they awarded her custody." I had never known that we were that visible in the community.

There are days when I think I am doing a terrible job of parenting, that my daughter comes up, gives me a hug, and says "I love you."

I remember the A that I got in a college economics course. On the final exam, we had to illustrate the effects of inflation. I attached the proposed budget my daughter had brought me, to negotiate a raise in her allowance. She had outlined what she planned to buy over a period of several months; and included the anticipated prices, not the actual prices. She was probably in 6th or 7th grade at the time.

I used to hear Bob Whites whistling in the early morning at summer camp. When I would walk into the bedroom in the morning to wake my eldest daughter, I would mimic their whistle. One morning, I was walking down the hall, and I whistled to wake her up. She climbed out of the crib, and ran down the hall to meet me. Neither of my older daughters ever came when called by name, although both always responded to their distinctive whistle. My youngest also responds to a whistle, but she's been known to respond to her name as well.

I've heard more than one teacher tell me that they give out A's to the students who teach them something about their subjects. Parenting is a lot like that. The first computer that I purchased was because my children felt they needed one. I didn't clearly understand what formatting a disk did, and I was having troubles remembering how to do it. My oldest daughter was calling me every time she wanted to use a new disk, and so I wrote a simple program which I named after her. "Just run 'Liz' and it will format a new disk." I told her; and when she didn't remove the old disk before typing run, it erased every program she had created. That was before you could purchase pre-programmed software on a disk! Real men, I learned that day, can not only learn to read the instructions, but learn to understand them!

I'll add one more post to my rapidly dying thread .

I am often surprised that having the kids has become so second-nature. I act as though my kids are with me even when I'm out. For instance, I usually take the baby with me to grocery shop. By the time I get to the check-out, he has had enough and tries to get out/protest/grab candy in the aisle. I pacify him by becoming animated live entertainment. I make noises, gesticulate, ect. By the time I get to the machine to pay with my card, I usually add the sound 'SWISH!' when I scan the card through...then, 'BLEEP! BLEEP! BLOOP!' for each of the keys I press.

The other day, I did this with the machine and noticed the cashier looking at me like I had lobsters crawling out of my ears. I'd forgotten that the baby wasn't with me....I'd left the kids at home with Mr P.

ha! That is a funny story...

When ever I go out alone to run errands....I always feel so light an like I am missing something or have forgotten something very important. You get so use to walking around constantly reminding little ones to hurry up, hold your hand, do not touch please, this way, do you have to use the potty?, where are yooooouuu? I can not carry you now, oh stop.. let me tie your shoe, stop running, please do not argue... blah blah blah that is does all become second nature to you and basically a part of you.

How old are your children pigpen?

Mine are 4 and 5 ...both girls

Mine are both boys...one is 21 months and the other is five.

That reminded me of a habit my oldest used to have...

My older brother gave me a Gerry Carrier (A back pack for carrying the baby.) that his son had outgrown. As I checked out at the grocery store, the clerk would invariably ask, "Do you want that bottle of apple juice?" She grabbed a quart bottle of apple juice off the shelf every time I went through the grocery store. She had usually had that much apple juice to drink anyway, so it wasn't a problem.

The Gerry Carrier was a new concept, I had the only one in town for quite awhile. One day as I walked away from the cash register at the jewelry store, the clerk called me back. I had been halfway to the door when I turned around. I thought my daughter must have something in her hand. As I reached the register, someone drove a car through the door I had been walking toward! Before calling the police, the cashier said, "Where did you get that baby carrier?"

A couple of things that have really surprised me about my kids:

How quickly they learn.

My son (age 4) started pre-school last month. Until he started going, he was what I would characterize as a typical 4-year old boy: liked trucks and cars, action figures, and cartoons. The second week, we got a note from his teacher stating that he can't write his name on his art work. He knew how to spell his name (aloud) he just couldn't write it. So we practiced with him. Within a week, he could write his name. It really amazed me how quickly he picked it up. Now, after just a short while, he is engrossed by letters and words.

How much they are like me. Not only do they have some of the same personality traits, but the same speech patterns, too.

How much they are different from me. Almost at the same time the kids show how much they are influenced by their parents, they also show that they can go their own way.

My kids are 9 (daughter) and 4 (son). Watching them mature and develop is simply amazing.

I also have two boys, ages 5 1/2 and 3. One time that I'll never forget:

On September 27, 2001 (16 days after 9-11) my boys and I had to
take a trip on an airplane. My older son who was 3 1/2 at the time,
asked me a question, as the plane was taking off:

"Mommy, are we going to crash into a tall building?" He wasn't upset,
just wanted to know. I guess he had seen it so many times on the news
that it seemed a good possibility in his mind. It made me think about
how watching the news can affect people's perspective - especially a child's.

Children see and perceive so much more than meets the eye.