Having children is one of the biggest decisions you might ever make. It changes every aspect of your life, from the time you get up in the morning to what you think about during the day. With so much responsibility, the very essence of who you are shifts, turning you into a more caring, maternal person dedicated to another human, not just yourself.
Although amazing, deciding to have kids is a choice you should never take lightly. If you do choose to become a parent, though, you might benefit from these four incredible ways that it changes you.
- You Become Selfless
When you live your life without children, you have more freedom to be selfish. That doesn’t mean you are cruel to others – just that you have more power over your time and your decisions. When you have children, however, you can no longer decide to push responsibilities aside for an impromptu city break or a self-care day; you have to think about your kids first.
You become just as selfless if you decide to foster children, too. When you become a foster parent, you undertake an incredibly selfless act that gives the most vulnerable children a chance at success. Sites like Fostering People have a wealth of information for first-time foster parents and those considering going down this rewarding route.
- Your Patience Increases
Looking after kids is no walk in the park, especially if you care for them all hours of the day – as many parents do. While parenting may be stressful at times, slowly but surely, your patience increases. Naturally, this patience boost makes sense when you have to potty train your child, teach them how to read, sit through a tantrum, and a whole range of other parental responsibilities.
Before having children, you might have tapped your foot standing in a long queue, but as a parent, you’ll probably think nothing of it. In any case, patience is a valuable quality to have, and being a parent increases it tenfold.
- You Gain a New Perspective
When you have children, the way you view the world changes. You start to notice the little things, much like children do, such as the crunch of the autumn leaves or how shadows and clouds look like animals and fairytale creatures.
Despite being an adult, you gain that innocent curiosity that comes to children naturally – a curiosity that adults lose after childhood, yet it comes back upon becoming a parent.
What’s more, after having kids, you might even change your mind about your overall lifestyle. For example, you may have sworn you’d never leave the city, but once your little ones come along, you might decide that living in the countryside is more appealing.
- It Changes Your Identity
Having kids really does change you as a person – not only do you become a more patient and selfless individual, but your whole identity shifts. One enormous way this happens is with your name; day-to-day, you won’t be called your birth name – you will be called ‘mom’ or ‘dad’. It might not seem like a big deal, but it completely changes who you are, making you a more responsible figure – even if you weren’t one before!
Conclusion
Having kids changes you in a lot of ways. Many of them will make you a kinder, more selfless, and more empathetic person than ever before. Whoever you evolve into after becoming a parent, it goes without saying that you won’t be the same person as you were – and for most people, that’s usually for the better.
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