Parenting: a prison sentence?

Oh the crazy road that is parenthood. Life will never be the same. Weekends no longer exist. You'll never be sure of anything again. Over the years many of you have laughed at us and told blatantly told us that we don't get it. Truthfully, we laughed at you and thought oh we get it. Hey what do you know, you were right. Ha! Val and I always swore we'd be the take Charge parents that didn't let our kids run things. It worked for a while! We'd still do our thing and Cyrus would sleep in his chair wherever. We thought hell this is EASY! Then Cyrus started becoming more aware of things and wanted to be entertained all the time and so started the true road to being parents.

I'm not writing this to scare any non parents. In fact I had a conversation with a friend today to whom this seems like a horrible prison sentence. "You can't go out! No time to yourself!!" While I wont't deny the need sometimes for some more "me time" or "us time" I will also says this, despite every parent's horror stories of sleep deprivation, getting pooped on, vomited on, not being able to pee alone, have a warm meal or have an adult conversation with your spouse etc.  I can promise you we all feel having kids was the greatest thing we've accomplished and no success will even come close to feeling as satisfying. Funny thing about you time and partying  is that you get over it after a while. There comes a time that it won't be as enjoyable anymore and you want more. You'll want to pass on your insanity and that's where the kids come in. Personally when I got pregnant and we had Cyrus, We felt complete. Like a part of our family puzzle that was missing was finally in place. One thing I'll say to those who find this parenting thing terrifying is that you have to be ready and to be ready there in mind that there are no timelines. While some may be ready at 20, others take longer...he'll some may never get there but if you're not a 100% ready for your life to change forever, don't do it. You have lots of time, enjoy every second of life in all forms. That's what it's all about. This is also why we waited till our 30's to have kids because we wanted to go on crazy vacations, party like Rock stars, drink our faces off n do it until we didn't want to do it anymore. But when you take that plunge because you really want it, that moment when you hold your child for the first time will be the most beautiful and mind blowing experience of your life. You'll cherish it for ever and there will never be a night out, a sap day, safari or sky diving adventure raft will ever replicate that high for you. The moment they smile at you, roll over, clap their hands or he'll just acknowledge your existence will be the most exquisite moment of your life and nothing else will matter.  

As I sit watching him bounce around in his little excersaucer, speaking a language at this point only he understands but clearly whatever he's saying us super important judging by his expression, I can't think of anything else that would be more awesome than just this. Watching my son grow, learn and discover. Trust me parenting is no prison sentence. You will get vomited on, pooped on, screamed at, peed on and you'll adore it all. You can't tell me you'd adore it if someone at a club did that shit ;)