Neulich auf Facebook

postete eine Freundin (2 Kinder unter 3, schwanger mit Zwillingen) folgendes:

To all the unselfish mums out there...who traded sleep for dark circles, new haircuts for a ponytail, long showers for quick ones, late nights for early mornings, designer bags for nappy bags , and wouldn't change a thing. Let's see how many mums post this who don't care what they gave up and instead LOVE what they got in return. Post this if you LOVE being a Mum xXxXx

Of course I didn't post this on my page. I would be lying. I mean who likes dark eye circles, stroppy hair, quick showers, early mornings and nappy bags? Seriously, which mum loves everything about being a mum. Which mum wouldn't change anything at all?

Here is a list of some of the things off the top of my head that I would change and/or introduce if I was mighty all mighty:
1. Babies sleep through the night from birth, its just like that.
2. Babies sleep easily and voluntarily during the day, you put them in their crib and ca y est - sound asleep.
3. Babies only cry when hungry and in pain and that crying is below 50 db(A). (For comparison's sake, a fire truck sirens at 110 db(A).
4. Babies stop breastfeeding naturally after 6 months.
5. Babies like car rides.
6. Babies are easy to travel with.
to be continued

And what is this that mothers always say they get 'in return'?? The smiles of my son? You have got to be kidding me. Yes they are awesome and we have fun together, but how can smiles and the occasional laughs compensate a mother for the hardest job in the world, for months of sleepless nights, for giving up one's career, for giving up oneself, nearly?
When I think of my own childhood I dont expect to get alot back in return from my son, not even later: Taking care of a baby and toddler is tough, then at age 2-5 they become all stroppy and throw fits, then they start school and you constantly worry about their homework or this or that, then puberty starts and your children start dying their heir pink, piercing their belly button and haiting their parents, then they move out. When does the 'love what you get in return part' start? As for me, I only started to realize how much my parents had loved and taken care of me when I was about 25. That's when I started giving. Before that it was take, take, take.

You might wonder now, why does this woman have children in the first place if she hates it so much?
Well, firstly, I dont hate it. Secondly, bringing life into this world, raising a child is an experience that doesn't compare to anything else in life. Yes, I loved and miss being a free spirit that could travel the world and do whatever the fuck I pleased all day, all week, heck, all year long. But do I still want to do just that when I am 50? By myself? Probably not.
All I am saying is that being a mother, and I suppose being a parent, isn't as much fun as the glossy magazines pretend it is or some mothers say it is. It is tough and monotonous and restricting. And you do it not because you get anything in return but because you 'become responsible, forever, (for what you have brought into this world and) for what you have tames'.

In diesem Sinne, happy parenting ;)