30 Ridiculously Silly Things Childless People Have Told Parents

According to mom u/lohype, she hasn't noticed in her social circle that anyone feels pressured to have kids just because their peers do. "It has not been my experience that people have children because they feel pressured by other friends or family members. It’s a deeply personal decision that alters the course of your life forever, and it absolutely isn’t the right choice for everyone," she said.

"I love my son and being his mom, but I have always tried to be realistic in my expectations—I knew it wasn’t going to be glamorous."

Bored Panda was interested to hear the redditor's take on what a couple that's sitting on the fence about whether or not to have a baby should do. In her opinion, it's the perfect opportunity to evaluate their lives and goals.

"I think fence-sitting is a really healthy place to be because it means you’re ready to examine what your life might be like with or without children. Nothing can truly prepare you for the experience of becoming a parent but taking your time in making the decision is definitely the best way to reach the right conclusion," she said.

"If you feel okay about the sacrifices (sleep, free time, flexibility) and you’re driven by a deep desire to shape a human being, you will do just fine. Personally, I found it easy to anticipate the kinda sucky things about being a parent because everyone warns you about them," redditor u/lohype told us.

"However, nothing prepared me for the amount of love I have for my baby and how fascinated I am by everything he does. I kind of assumed I would feel the same way I do when I hold someone else’s baby—it couldn’t be more different. The feeling I get when my son nestles into me is incomparable to anything I’ve felt before."

Raising kids is no joke. Relationship and dating expert Dan Bacon, a proud father of two, spoke to Bored Panda a while back about finding the right balance between being a strict and fun parent. He stressed that patience is vital, and that parents should realize that children always push boundaries to see what they can get away with.

“In order to be good, functioning citizens of a society, children do need to be shown what is good and what is bad. However, you have to remember that a child is a clean slate and is effectively innocent,” the expert told us.

“The child will often say and do things that could make you angry if you don’t understand that he/she is simply testing to see what is okay or not, or what the limits are. Without testing, the child will just sit there, be quiet and do nothing, which isn’t going to happen,” Dan said.

“The child wants to explore the world around it and see what he/she can and cannot do. The child will also regularly forget what is right or wrong at times, or remember that something is wrong, but do it again anyway to see if you have a different response this time.”

He continued: “By doing it again, the child often shows you that it doesn’t need to follow a particular rule because the rule was too strict, or unnecessary, which then results in you changing and allowing the child to do it from then on.”

Dan pointed out that parents should be realistic about instilling positive habits in their children by thinking about how long it takes for them to do the same thing.

“You need to be patient as the child grows up and figures out how to behave and approach life in a way that suits you and himself/herself. One way to think about expecting a child to change or follow your orders is to remember how long it can take you to change a certain behavior as an adult,” he said.

“Sometimes it can take weeks or months for you to stop a habit, change a behavior or take on a new behavior that people are asking of you, so you shouldn’t expect a child to change everything overnight and be completely obedient to every new rule you come up with," Dan noted.

"You have to love patiently, otherwise being a parent will make you feel stressed all the way through the child’s life.”