I received a product for this post in exchange for my honest review. These opinions are and always will be my own! See my full disclosure here.
“Man, when I have kids, I’m NEVER doing that!”
That’s something every mom says at some point before having children. I like to think of that as part of God’s sense of humor. He’s like, ‘Oh yeah? Wanna bet? Here, have a kid. Let’s see how you feel now’!
It’s also great to hear moms of tiny newborn babies saying things like “My baby will never act like that in public”!
I try not to make ridiculous comments like the two above. Mostly because I feel that by saying things that start with ‘I’ll never’ or ‘_______ will never’ just opens the door to those exact things happening.
I asked some mamas from a Facebook group I’m in what they said they would never do before they were moms. Here’s what they said!
“I won’t mother and molly cuddle my child so they don’t cling to me 24/7 and yes I did and have a clingy child 
😂“
” I said I would make my children eat healthy … I will literally let him eat anything as long as its food .. that child never wants to eat“
” I swore my child wouldnt be screaming in the store…. Wrong!“
” I said i would work and show my kids independence but I’m a stay at home mom cause I’ve been lucky to have my hubby support us and our 3 kids. I do plan to go back to work. My youngest is about to be in Head Start at the end of the month“
“I told my oldest son not to talk to his baby brother in baby talk because it teaches him not to talk clearly. Then one day, he busted me talking to my youngest in baby talk.“
“I would never paint his nails. His nails are painted more than mine.“
“That I wouldn’t let mine watch TV. But mine don’t nap and they’re up for 12 hours! Gotta keep my sanity at some point“
“I wouldn’t let my son watch TV to fall asleep. Now it’s pretty much the only way I can get him to lay down at all.”
” I swore up and down that my son would sleep in his crib and not with us but he’s been sleeping in bed with us for almost 5 months now.“
” I said I would never lick my finger and get something off my child’s face because I hated when my mom did that to me. Well I do it all the time to my 3 year old and he hates it as much as I did.“
” First kid: “you can’t have soda until you can recite the ingredients.”
Second kid: “eh, at least its not coffee.”
“I just plain out said i would never have children. I’m now a mother of 3 with one on the way and i babysit 3 others!”
” Well I said a lot of things before kids that all went out the window. I said I would only have one after I had my first daughter all natural. Well, I have five daughters. I also said I would never allow my emotions to get the best of me. Being a mom there is no off switch with emotions it’s a roller coaster and sometimes it’s a scary one! My oldest is almost 17, down from there I have 15,12,10,6 and they make one crazy life but all worth the ride!“
As for me, I said we would ABSOLUTELY not be using a pacifier.
I was insistent in the hospital that they don’t give him a paci because I wanted my breastfeeding journey to start off as seamless as possible. Those nurses just couldn’t seem to keep the paci out of his mouth! I remember watching him lay in the little incubator in the nursery on the day we were to be discharged, paci in mouth. I was standing there with my sister and we decided that it wasn’t THAT bad. At least he wasn’t in there crying.
From that point on he took a paci every now and then (we bounced around a bit until we found our favorite pacis by Mam). He started to suck his thumb and we decided a paci would be easier to break him of. Now, as an almost two year old, he seems to want it more and more! He is getting molars and I know that’s part of it but we have an elaborate plan to say goodbye to them next month after our flight to Oregon. So…stay tuned for that!
I said he wouldn’t sleep in the bed with me. For the most part I held true to this, but the first couple of months he definitely slept on my chest or by my side a time or two. Only when my husband was sleeping in the other room! It’s so hard not to let them sleep on you or next to you when that’s the ONLY way you get any sleep. Just be sure you’re doing it safely!
I always swore my child wouldn’t go around wearing clothes with cartoon characters on them.
I stuck to this pretty firmly until one day he pointed and said ‘MINGY’! He had somehow fallen in love with Mickey Mouse…despite the fact that we avoid Mickey Mouse Club House (The hot dog song kills my soul). He has some books with Mickey in them (an entire Disney Baby series from when I was a baby). Plus you can’t really avoid Mickey Mouse…he is everywhere! So suddenly I found myself buying a gaudy blue and red Mickey hat at Target with ears and everything. It was my gateway drug. After that I was buying up all the Mickey stuff I could find. It’s astonishing what you will do to make your baby smile!
I also insisted I would never use a leash on my child.
I promise you I never judged the parents who did…I totally understand the usefulness, but I told myself I would raise my child to listen and not run off.
Sure…that’s great for older children…but what about that learning period! There was a time when all I had to do was set Leopold down and he would take off for the nearest street or road or busy aisle full of people. I think having your four year old on a leash is a bit much but what about when they are in the process of learning not to run away? When they are still unaware of the danger that lurks out in the middle of the road?
How about the child that is only just starting to figure out that you don’t run off (that’s where we are now)? For the most part he will stay by me and he is really great about holding my hand. However he does have bouts of extreme independence (what toddler doesn’t) where he won’t ride, won’t walk with me, and doesn’t want to be held. Seriously kid?! What do you want me to do?
A couple of weeks ago I discovered Gabby Box on Instagram and upon looking through their bags, I found one that caught my eye. Of course, it was a leash backpack. I kind of refuse to call them ‘harness’ or any other “code” name. Let’s call it what it is people. It’s a leash.
Anyway…I found this leash backpack on their site and it was the CUTEST one I’ve ever seen. They kindly sent me one to check out and Leopold loves it!
No wonder I’ve gained so much weight after having Leopold…I just keep eating my words. Over and over again.
The ears on the backpack are made of reflective material and the strap for the leash is a bit stretchy so you’re not jerking your kid all over the place. This isn’t the only print they have but Leopold is really into animals right now (especially African animals) so the giraffes were a given! The mustard yellow and teal colors go perfectly together too! I also love that the leash part will clip on and off so it can be used at just a backpack if necessary. It’s the perfect size for Leopold to tote around all of this beloved ‘amimals’.
My only complaint would be the wrist strap could be a little bigger. My fat hands don’t go through it! This might be better, to keep you more aware of what you’re doing and what your child is doing. A friend said she saw a parent with one that attached to the wrist walking down the stairs and not paying attention and their kid just kind of fell down the steps! Just because you have your kid on a leash doesn’t mean you get to forfeit all responsibility!
Check out Gabby Box’s website and give them a follow on Instagram to see some of the CUTEST bags around!
Leave me a comment and tell me what you said you would NEVER do before you had kids!!
Hahaha I was laughing all the way through this! You hit my biggest two spot on. I said never to the character clothes and the leash. While I haven’t gotten a leash yet, as you saw in one of my blog posts, Piper definitely made me think about getting one and I totally still should! All that girl does is run! lol Loved reading this and that little backpack is cute!!
Thank you!! I’m glad you enjoyed it! 😀