by Kimberly Cleckenr

Created on: January 29, 2011

I believe that there is nothing that can prepare you for the changes that occur during parenthood. You can read every book there is about parenting and get advice from all parents you know, but you will never be completely prepared. Books, pamphlets, doctors, classes, movies and friends all simply provide you will a good foundation of parenting knowledge. There are some basic lifestyle changes that every potential parent should be aware of before becoming a parent. 

1. Privacy. Most privacy is lost the day you become a parent. The day will come where you can not even go to the bathroom without being accompanied by a child. Children love their parents so much and simply just want to be with them no matter where they are.  

2. Peace and quiet. Either of these are hardly ever experienced once children enter the home; they are forever talking and making some kind of noise. This is just something that will take some getting used to over time. 

3. Sleep. Getting a lot of sleep is just not an option when you have children. As soon as I had children, I became a very light sleeper. Every move or sound the kids make wake me up. A lot of parents tend to see this change in themselves. It is hard to sleep when you have an infant in the house who wakes often and when older children are up sick at night. There are an endless amount of issues with children that tend to interfere with sleeping. 

4. Neatness. If you are overly neat or organized, well forget it. Nothing can be kept very neat with children. You will soon see toys and clothes scattered throughout every room. Once you teach them how to tidy up and pick up after themselves, you will then begin to see some sort of neatness. Until then, good luck. 

5 Cleanliness. Don't every expect to keep yourself clean for an entire day. With infants, you will always have either food, drool or vomit on your clothes. With older children, you will always be experiencing their sticky and dirty hands on your clothes. My boys tend to come in from playing outside and want to hug after playing in the dirt with their cars. Yuck but oh well. 

6. Space. With children comes a lot of 'stuff'. Babies need strollers, bouncers, blankets and tons of diapers. The house begins to overflow with the supplies of a baby. With older kids comes toys and more toys. Children are not as neat as we would like them to be and there toys always find themselves out of the bedrooms and in the  middle of the kitchen or living room floor. 

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