10 Inconveniences of Parenting Young Children (0-3)

Although in no particular order, here is a top 10 list of everyday things that are slightly annoying about parenting children three and under.

1) The three months of insane hair loss followed by the awkward regrowth, which in my case, results in these curly horn-like looking things right by my temples.  Not quite sure why your hair has to go through a resting phase during pregnancy while the rest of you is growing, but the "catch-up" loss is seriously crazy.

  The other day my husband called me from work wanting to know how my hair got into his clean underwear.  I swear I could make a wig out of the the hair that is weaved into the carpet right outside the bathroom.  Thank goodness it's my hair because if it was anyone else's, I would be seriously grossed out (and in Darren's case, seriously confused).

  Oh and let's not forget, the natural grey highlights.

2) Never getting to go, when you really need to "go".

  Heck, I have even been dethroned by Noah during potty training.  So I guess, I am not even allowed to go when I get the chance to!

Special thanks to D.M. for this one.

3) Unintentionally sporting the grunge look.  Why bother with make up if you aren't going to be leaving the house?  Why bother brushing my hair when my daughter seems to use it as a "safety" rope as we walk around the house? Why bother putting on a new shirt when, within the hour, one child will either wipe his nose on it or the other will spit up on it or I will self-sabotage myself by leaking. (Breast feeding mothers will know what I mean.)  Some days, getting dressed consists of putting on socks, yoga pants and a bra...oh yeah, and that dirty shirt.

Special thanks to E.L. for this one.

4) Showering only once a week.

5) Having no control of your sleep schedule.

  At times, I think they tag team me.  Just as I leave one, the other wakes up.  It's a good thing that I am better than most on no sleep.

6) Being restricted to movies with no sex, violence or swearing and being only able to watch them at home.  There's nothing like enjoying Pixar / Disney movies in 20 minute intervals due to inevitable potty breaks, baby fussiness or some other toy disaster you must come fix.

  We made the mistake this summer of watching the last bit of Horrible Bosses.  Needless to say, the next day, we caught Noah dropping S and F bombs while playing in his sandbox.  And in moments of extreme frustration, he would use them in the proper context.  This might be funny, if it didn't happen in the Walmart parking lot as I was wrestling him into his car seat.

7) Eating lukewarm (if you are lucky) food because you have to make sure everyone else gets fed first. And if you are lucky, you may actually get to sit down and eat instead of cleaning up the after meal mess while you eat.

  This inconvenience also falls into the never eating at a restaurant again category.   There is an age when children develop patience and understand that other's have needs.  My kids aren't there yet.  By the time the food arrives, Noah is ready to go home and the little one is tired of being in her carseat. Frankly, going to a restaurant these days is just plain stupid.  You are paying money to be stressed, annoy the other patrons and eat hurriedly and in shifts (as one parent has to take at least one of the children out to walk the parking lot) or get your food packed up for home.

8) Remembering, around lunchtime, that you failed to have breakfast yet again.

9) Never, ever, ever having a clean house again (or at least not for longer than five minutes). In fact, over time, Noah's toys seem to creep into every room, the man cave, the kitchen, the front room, and even my room. And now that we are slowly bringing out toys for Élize, our home looks like a toy store just blew up in it.

  And what is annoying about this is, I have to be a tidying Ninja, otherwise, Noah gets mad that I am cleaning up his toys.  Not quite sure why the Legos have to be all over the floor if he is busy playing with his trains, but if he catches me putting the Legos in the container, he comes over, dumps them out and then returns to Thomas.

10) The high stress departures: Chasing down for a diaper changing.  Wrestling to get 'em dressed.  Putting shoes on feet that are kicking.  Running around in circles to get a jacket on.  Carrying them to the car as they squirm in defiance.  Pinning down the "plank" that refuses to sit in the car seat.  Struggling to buckle the crotch strap before they can "plank" again.  Breaking a nail in the process. Realizing that your infant just pooped all the way up her back and you must now go in and have a complete outfit change.

  But in all honestly, this is a very small price to pay for seeing them smile, hearing them say "I love you", getting to cuddle, watching them grow and pretty much being the center of their world (other then themselves, obviously) just because you are their mom.