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Becoming a parent is one of the biggest life changes anyone can experience. You’re quickly thrown into brand new challenges and stress, as well as the most joy and love that you will ever know. In motherhood, there are so many lessons you learn through trial and error that you would have not understood or even imagined before having kids. Since becoming a mother, my perspective on life has changed so much. Things that once weren’t as important, now are, and things that I thought were significant back then, mean absolutely nothing at the end of each day. Each motherhood journey is different, just as each child is different, but here are a few things that I have learned as a parent and that I believe every parent learns along the way:

You have to take care of yourself first

The first thing that I think is really important to acknowledge is the fact that you have to take care of yourself before taking care of another human, or humans. If you deprive yourself of the necessities and self-care that a person needs each day, or even each week, then you will end up not being able to provide for those that need you because you will be worn out. Take care of yourself first and prioritize self-care each day.

Always prepare for the unexpected

One thing that I’ve learned during my motherhood journey is that kids keep you on your toes! You can never just expect that something will go as planned. You cannot control everything, especially with kids, but one thing that you can do is be prepared for any situation! This is why I always have extra supplies and snacks on-hand. Make sure that you always have a back up plan ready to go, just in case. If something does go wrong, just know that you will make it work – no matter what it is. You will figure it out! The days are long, but the years are short: just keep that in mind when you feel defeated or worn down by the unexpected.

Outsource when needed

Outsource when you can, in order to make your life easier and less stressful. If you need to get your haircut or take time to workout on your own for your mental health, find a babysitter. If you need to move, don’t try to tackle it all on your own. Instead, find a company or people that can help you tackle it all and reduce your stress such as Movin’. Providing moving services like commercial moving near Salt Lake City, residential moving, packing, and more, Movin’ has great customer reviews and could help parents (and non-parents) reduce stress and save time, by outsourcing all moving-related needs.

You cannot please everyone

As your family grows, you will soon realize that your children will always take priority. This means that sometimes, you have to prioritize their life and obligations over other important festivities that you might want to do. Before you had children, you may have been able to stretch yourself thin and attend everything thrown your way, but it is much harder with children. People should be understanding of your role as a mother and will understand, but if they don’t, just realize that you cannot please everyone and your children come first.

Another aspect of this is recommendations. The minute you get pregnant, you get all of the recommendations – asked for, or not. “This is how I did with ____” “Don’t do that – I did ____ instead.” “What do you mean you aren’t doing _____?!” “Make sure to ___.” This is what worked for us…” You will hear a lot of that, if you haven’t already. Just ignore it for the most part. Each child and each parent is different. You have to find what works best for you and roll with it, no matter what others say. Remember: you cannot please everyone and that’s okay!

Stay present

It is easy to be glued to a screen. Between phones, laptops, desktops, iPads, TV’s, and more, screens are all around us. Technology is not bad, don’t get me wrong, but we could do with a little less of it, especially when we are with our families. There is no better time than now to be present with your family and especially with your kids. They grow up in a blink of an eye and it is important to feel like you were there for the big and small moments as they grow up. If you do not do this, I guarantee you that you will be sorry in the long run.

Comparing is not healthy

Once again, everyone is different. Stop comparing kids and stop comparing yourself to other moms! With social media, it’s way too easy to play the comparison game when you are looking at bloggers that have “perfect” lives. Their houses always seem cleaner, their kids are always happy, and their lives seem, well – perfect. However, you have to think about it in this way. You are only seeing the highlights – the absolute highs of their days. The rest of their day might look completely different. Don’t focus so much on other people’s highlight reels. You are doing an amazing job!