Parents Are Sharing The Things That Completely Shocked Them When They Had Kids

When I had my first kid, I was completely shocked that kids had personalities from the time that they are newborns. I was just SHOCKED that even in the first weeks and months, babies showed themselves to you. I always thought that all newborns were basically the same. To say I was proven wrong is an understatement.

Now on Reddit this week, a ton of parents on the subforum Mommit are sharing what shocked them about kids once they became parents — and many of their answers are very, very relatable.

One parent wrote:

“I didn’t realize kids wear diapers/pull ups at age 5+. I figured you stopped buying diapers at like age 3. I never knew/realized overnight dryness takes so long. What was a shock that you had once you had kids of your own?”

Here are some of our favorite answers.

• “Two hardcore introverts can make an extrovert.”

• “That I’m the adult. Thankfully it dawned on me when she was about 2 days old and we were still in the hospital, but the thought still occasionally takes me by surprise.”

• “I was shocked that someone can like a dinner one day and then claim to hate it the next day.”

• “How fast their feet grow. And when they jump up a size overnight, you have to buy like three pairs of shoes (sneakers, sandals, nice shoes) at once!”

• “How much offense people take to choices you make about your own family that doesn’t affect them in the slightest.”

• “That becoming a parent also means that you have to interact and form some kind of relationships with the parents of the children your kid likes and plays with. Never have I had to endure and strike of so much small talk as I have since becoming a mom.”

• “That baby boys can get erections 🤯”

• “Why are these teeny tiny pairs of toddler underwear as expensive as my big woman grown-ass underwear???!!!!”

• “The sheer destruction they can cause in a small amount of time.”

• “That I would spend the majority of my time at home in the kitchen. It’s never ending cleaning, cooking, preparing snacks, and tidying up all day long.”

• “I probably could’ve guessed but I didn’t realize having kids was going to trigger AAAALLLLLLL the childhood trauma was I was doing my best to beat down and ignore all by life.”

• “How much everything depends on how tired your child is.”

• “It never fails to amaze me how many basic and obvious things I have to explicitly explain.”

• “Every minor illness will leave them fine in two days, while that same illness wallops you. And you still have to suck it up and be a parent the whole time. It is brutal!!”

• “I can’t sit down for more than 10 minutes 😅”

• “Not necessarily shocked, but I’ve been really struck by how much my kids are who they are with very little influence from me.”