I don't think there is anything anyone could have told my husband and me before we decided to have children that would have scared us off having them. We made the decision, and we went for it, figuring we would work it out as we went along. And three children later, our way seems to have worked quite well. At least for now.
But there were a few things that we did not know. Things that only parents and possibly career babysitters and teachers know.
One is that we would never sleep again. I know some people swear blind that their babies all slept through the night in 12-hour stretches from the moment they reached six weeks old. We have never had a baby do that. Ever. Our 18-month-old still doesn't sleep 12 hours straight a night. Most nights he wakes up at least twice.
But even our older children still wake up some nights. Fever wakes them up, a sore ear, a bad dream or the occasional wetting of the bed. From our experience, it doesn't take much to rouse a three-year-old from her seemingly deep slumber and propel her right into the warmth of our bed. And there she commandeers the whole bed, as we drift in and out of what always proves to be a very bad night's sleep.
I also didn't know that I would never visit a toilet alone again, except on those rare occasions when I don't have three little ones in tow.
Every time I go to the toilet someone follows me. When I am at home, my 18-month-old is my constant shadow, he follows me automatically. To him, a locked door means one almighty screaming fit and little fists trying to beat down the door. This fit then causes my two elder children to come running. So much for five minutes of peace.