THE SEVEN STAGES THAT EVERY PARENT WITNESSES
Phase 1: The Twinkle in Your Eye.
Your biological clock ticks away and prompts you to smile at every cute baby face you see. Should you start a family of little ones? This tickles your curiosity as you love to "make" babies.
Stage 2: Blue line pregnant or no line?
You missed your period and are trying to decipher your home preganancy test. Are you pregnant? Wow! A sweet baby face could be on its way. You ponder this as you run to the bathroom yet again.
Flash forward a few months. The kicks, elbows, backaches, and swollen ankles are part of your daily routine. Gross! Varicose veins. What happened to your body?
Here she comes. Your baby pushes and pushes making you have the mouth of a sailor. During labor you decide to never make babies ever again. But wait, she has ten fingers, ten toes, and a sweet smile.
Stage 3: Your life has changed forever.
Sleepless nights, sore nipples, dieting to lose all those extra pounds. Meanwhile, the little darling can do no wrong. Look! She smiles! And she has discovered her toes! I wonder if they really taste so good?
First time: sitting, crawling, standing, walking. First word, First solid food. First potty. First full blown, lie-on-the-floor-and-kick-the-feet tantrum. Each a major achievement to celebrate.
Nursery rhymes and pat-a-cake - crucial for child development but, all too often these days, delegated to the TV.
Your baby heads off to school. You are thrilled, but will miss her at the same time.
Phase 4: Playing outside and with friends
How fast they change from being cuddly babies to young, independent, school kids. In some English private schools they even wear a uniform with cap and tie (for the boys)!
The bathroom humor surfaces. Who knew relieving one's self could be so funny.
The first best friend wonderfully appears while the first brush with rejection sadly appears. She has bumps and scrapes from play. She doesn't understand why things are not always fair.
How hard it is to let them go - but you can't protect them from everything.
Phase 5: Time for academics
Play times fall by the wayside when they have to learn the alphabet and addition. It may be easier for your child or it may feel like the teacher is speaking Chinese. If your child succeeds easily you have a fairly smooth ride ahead of you. If your child has trouble then you will have many potholes on the road called "school".
Even so, there are always the little events to remember - All she wants for Christmas is her two front teeth (along with Barbie and a puppy dog!)
Remember they are not babies. They need to follow rules and do their chores.
Stage 6: She hits middle school.
They hit puberty and their body will be changing every day. The girls hang with the girls and the boys hang with the boys. Girls are too silly for boys. Girls think boys are not mature.
Your personal style will not be cool no matter what. No one wears the clothes you have in your wardrobe and your daughter will tell you this every day.
Language. Well cool.
The training bra and makeup come on. Puberty wreaks havoc on voices.
Phase 7 - "Kevin goes Large"
Boys and girls discover the attraction to each other. They wonder if anyone has a crush on them.
Your daughter has become the authority on everything. You have somehow become the student.
Parents are out of style while friends are the top of their social list. Your daughter wants to stay out till the wee hours of the morning with friends. Why not? Everyone else is staying out that late.
On special occassions your teenager will open up to you. Just listen, don't preach.
Your daughter becomes an adult. She is back to talking with you and tells you about her life dreams. She is ready to tackle the world.
Phase 8 (well, who said I could count?)
Your daughter has gone to college. You worry about her everyday. Did she have a good dinner? Are her clothes clean?
"I'll love you, forever. I'll like you, for always. As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be" - Robert Munsch
Life is short. Enjoy moments with your children whenever you can.
For more expert advice on child behavior problems and for his excellent book, why not visit Dr. Noel Swanson's website http://www.good-child-guide.com ? You can also find many more of Dr. Noel Swanson free articles on parenting here.
This article is available as a unique content article with free reprint rights.
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