Sharon Atkins

Parenting is not for sissies and can get messy and downright disgusting.  My mother used to lick a tissue and wipe the dirt off our faces- I vowed I would never do this to my kids. (Yes, of course I have now done this!)

This all seems alright though if it is your own kid. We all know we would do absolutely anything for these offspring of ours.

Only parents will wipe the snot off their kid’s nose with their fingers.

Clean poo out of the bath when their kid couldn’t hold it in and didn’t make the loo in time.

Cup their hands to catch the vomit when their kids get sick.

Stay up the whole night with a feverish little one watching Disney.

Watch with hawk eyes when you are out and about and in busy places.

Fish peas out of their nose that got shoved in there to avoid eating them.

Be so proud of the fact that they haven’t wet the bed for a whole week.

Let their arm become numb when their child is sleeping on them so they don’t wake them up.

Listen again and again to their favourite “Monkeys Jumping on the Bed” song in the car.

Eat food off the floor that the kid’s drop. Come on, we can’t let those biscuits go to waste.

Lick the food off their kid’s fingers to clean them to avoid them wiping their grubby hands on their clothes.

Carry them to their beds if they fall asleep, even when they are lumpy six year olds.

Cut their hair at home and make your little girl’s fringe way too short that she cries for half an hour.

Spend an hour washing the vomit from the car seats because the little one ate too much at a party.

Spend nights trying to sleep on the chair next to their bed when they are sick in hospital.

Play ‘I Spy’ for the 100^th time in the car just to keep them busy on a long car trip.