New To Parenting? Here Are 8 Surprises That Are Coming Your Way

If you watch your kids closely enough, ('like a hawk' should do it), you will see little miraculous changes in them every day. Every new milestone a baby reaches is a delight to behold and once they get mobile and grow older, you will catch yourself being completely blown over by their unique little personality traits. Here are 7 really brilliant moments to watch out for that will totally make your day: 1. When you first hear "I love you" ..or any other lovely things like "You're so beautiful mammy" or "I love you all the way to the moon" or "You make better dinners than daddy" (!), or give you a kiss for no reason at all - this is unconditional love, people. Soak it up. Unless they ask for a choc ice five seconds later, and then you know you're being played. 2. When your kids wear your shoes, handbag and makeup, toolbelt.. There is something so fab about seeing your kids trying to emulate their parents. It means they look up to you, adore you, want to be like you some day. It makes you feel so important as a human being and reinforces how serious it is to be a great role model for your kids as they grow up. They are watching all. the. time. (Photo via Etsy.com) 3. When they can handle going to the toilet by themselves Our daughter is still in nappies but I honestly still get a great kick out of my four-year-old son's wee routine. The kind of 'maleness' of him is so inherent - toilet seat up, pants down, t-shirt held up lazily with one hand, leans slightly backwards like a pro and gets that whizz where it needs to go. (Leaves a drizzle on the seat, doesn't put the toilet seat back down, needs to be reminded to wash his hands. He's a little man, alright) 4. When you watch a full movie together on the couch 'Movie Night' is becoming a thing in our house at the weekends - Jacob is just lately able to sit through a short movie while snuggled up on the couch with me while we stuff our faces with popcorn and toasted sambos. This is the kind of 'sitting down' phase I've been waiting for. Also, I love me some snuggles. 5. When they make a complete show of you There is nothing more hilario than innocently doing the weekly shop in your local supermarket with your toddler in tow, who points and screams at the top of his lungs, 'Mammy's juice!' 'Mammy's juice!' when passing the booze aisle... 6. When they make amazing decisions unprompted My parents were arriving home from travels recently and Jacob was really excited to see them come back. We had a chat about what might be a nice thing to do, to welcome them home. Eventually, we decided that a nice breakfast on their return would be the business. 'What will we make them?' I asked, expecting to be told 'Chocolate pancakes, of course'. But after thinking about it for some time, he came up with the game plan: 'We have to make them Christmas breakfast!' he declared. Meaning, a fry-up. What a legend. (Photo via Flickr.com) 7. When they come up with the ultimate put-down Jacob and I have 'pretend fights' where we start with 'I'm going to feed you purple Witches' elbow soup' and mock-scrap all the way to 'I'm going to feed you your own bones'. But recently, he was genuinely annoyed with me and said, 'If you don't stop doing that, I'm going to go to the garden, pick you a flower, take all the petals off the flower, and give you what's left. Because you like flowers'. I have never been more proud. 8. When you know you are a better person because of them When you become a parent, you instinctively make all sorts of decisions that render you a greater person than you were before. You might choose to stop smoking or drinking so much, stop swearing, get fit, have more fun, go on weekend hikes, start saving. The little monkeys really do bring out the best in us. What nice surprises did YOU get from your kids? Why not share them in the comments on Facebook?