I never would have described myself as a 'kid person'.

Despite being the eldest of my siblings and one of the oldest grandkids in my family I never baby sat growing up or changed a nappy before becoming a parent. I knew at some point I wanted to have kids but I wasn't someone who went gaga over babies or loved chatting with young kids. To be honest I worried a little bit that I wasn't going to be a good mother once I had kids because I didn't really like interacting with other people's children. Then I had my own kids and things changed. I had my first child in my early twenties and I was a little bit at a loss. As I said above I had never babysat, never changed a nappy, never made up a bottle, never winded a baby, just completely clueless. Out of me and my partner, he was the one with the baby skills. Of course I figured out all that stuff over time, my eldest is eight now, but one additional thing that I didn't notice was that becoming a parent made me more at ease around children in general. I no longer panicked when a small child came up to me for a chat (yes I used to literally panic) and I also knew when to help out my fellow parent instinctually ('you need a hand with that pram up those stairs?') I also became less judgmental of parents dealing with temper tantrums as dealing with them myself made me realise even good kids can have bad moments. I get it when a parent friend of mine needs to cancel plans last minute because their child feels ill or they can't get a babysitter (I've had people hold these things against me and it's not a nice feeling). I've gained a knack with kids that I honestly never thought I'd have. I'm no longer running out of the room when someone is passing around a newborn and like anyone who has had a whiff of 'new baby' I would very much like it to be developed into a room spray or candle (come on Jo Malone). Parenthood changes us all in different ways and I guess this is just one of them. Saying that, because I breastfed my kids I'm still pretty shite at making up bottles.