Parenting And Certain Qualities You Will need

Becoming a parent changed me on so many levels that if I’m honest, I have found it difficult to comprehend ever that my eldest was born 22 years ago.

Thankfully I believe the changes I made as a person made me a better person. I have found over the last 22 years I had qualities in my character and personality that I didn’t know existed.

Here’s my list of some qualities that I found in myself after becoming a parent. Which I never knew I had.

1. Patience

This was not something I had a lot of as a child, or a teenager, or even as a young adult. I simply didn’t wait a minute. I had to either have it now or I wanted it done straight away. When you have children, patience is a vital ingredient to being a parent, because your patience will tested consistently. Nowadays I have loads of it, especially when my children are going on to me that they want this or that.

2. Priorities

Yes, this is so important. Before you have children, the only priority is yourself, and quite simply you have nothing to worry about, except yourself. You can spend your wages, and that’s all of it, on yourself , you have no one to answer to either. Oh! the joy.

Then you become a parent and OMG! Your priorities are completely different. You have bills to pay and most importantly, the responsibility to keep a roof over your children’s head for as long as they need it.

You are no longer the number one priority, in fact you are well down the list.

3. Leading By Example

Before having children I didn’t have to set any example to anybody, mainly because I could live my life as I wished without fear of hurting anybody, or having the responsibility of people copying my actions.

Oh! How that’s changed! When you have children they watch your every move and the truth is they copy everything you do too. This is why your actions are so important. You need to tone down your language, not lose your cool when driving for instance. This is where you are leading by example and something I never knew I possessed until my children were born. Children are the greatest mimics in the world so the last thing I would have wanted is a foul mouthed three year old toddler walking down the street.

4. Love

I have always been the sort of person that didn’t show affection or love easily. Mostly this can be put down to my childhood. I always questioned myself before I had children. Would I be able to easily love my children? I needn’t have worried! The one biggest quality I had hidden away was the ability to love my children. It was instantaneous, and it’s never left me in becoming a dad to five children, if anything it has grown stronger. Love will always be my best quality when it comes to my children.

So there are some qualities I never knew I had until my children were born.

What qualities did you find out about yourself when your children were born? I would love to hear.