When you first become a parent, it can be hard to feel like you’re winning at this whole thing. No matter how much you prepare for this role, there will always be curve balls (or pee streams) thrown your way. There’s no way to be prepared for that first blowout diaper. It can be easy to get overwhelmed and feel like you’re flailing about in parenthood hoping for the best. But, I’d like to take a moment to highlight the positive things you gain after becoming a parent. Most of these skills come about as a necessity, but man they sure are valuable. Here they are:
1. Efficiency
I don’t think I’ve ever hacked cleaning my home faster than after I became a mom. I used to take my time on a Saturday morning and get it all done. Now I cram that house cleaning into nap-time. I usually get about 2 hours when my son naps and I just get to work. I’ve taught myself to clean my home fast enough to allow me at least one Netflix show after cleaning before my son wakes up. Winning! Since becoming a mother, I’ve become efficient at most things in life. I don’t know what clicked in my brain but suddenly I’m able to see the shortest route to the end of any task that will provide the same results as if I were to do it in a longer fashion. This skill is awesome.
2. Resourcefulness
I’ve always considered myself a resourceful person. But, after becoming a parent, I’ve become more resourceful than ever before. When you have a new baby, you’re going to encounter a lot of stuff you don’t know how to handle. You have a tiny life to protect and nurture now so you can’t just be like “Welp, I don’t know how to do this so I just won’t..” That’s not a thing here. You have to be resourceful. You need to learn how to research this crap and pick out the good advice from the bad. You need to do this quickly as well. You have to adapt and roll with the punches. Your child(ren) grow so quickly when they’re young and seem to always be entering a new phase that you need to learn how to handle. Therefore, you become resourceful AF and that’s a skill worth having.
3. Organization
Naturally your level of organization needs to increase once you have a child. You need to schedule the babysitters, plan the date nights, plan the play dates, go to school plays, coordinate soccer practice snacks, etc. That’s a lot of things to juggle. Beyond that, you need to always know where your kid’s favorite sleeping item is and how many diapers you have left. You need to make sure you have the appropriate food and snacks stocked in your pantry or fridge. You need to not only have those things but actually feed them to your child and make sure they have everything they need in their diaper bag. If they’re on medications, you need to give them on a schedule and keep things consistent. Even if you’re not the most organized parent, you’ve definitely leveled up in your general ability to organize things.
4. Observation
When you have a newborn, it can sometimes feel like you have super senses. You need to be able to observe them and notice any issues that arise or mild changes in behavior. Then, you have the fun task of figuring out what it all means and how to make it better. As they get older, you need to have one eye on the ground beef you’re browning in the kitchen and another eye on your toddler making sure they aren’t getting into anything they shouldn’t be. You need to be a keen observer around your home too. You need to notice and take care of damp areas where mold might be growing and make sure the temperature in your home is kept at a comfortable level for the children. It’s a lot to “keep an eye on”, but you’re kicking butt at it and probably didn’t even notice you acquired this new skill.
5. Time Management
It’s next to impossible to have any sort of life outside of your children if you can’t manage your time well. Scheduling sitters, attending soccer games, going to PTA meetings, and still finding the time to go grocery shopping is a lot to manage. Then, if you’re pursuing any personal goals in your career or in fitness, you need to creatively find the time to do those things. To some extent you learn to multi-task just so you can squeeze everything into the schedule. You also make sure that all child-involved tasks for the day are completed by your child’s bedtime in the early evening. While it’s possible to achieve a high level of time management before you have a child, becoming a parent will bring this skill to a whole new level that you didn’t know existed.
So, whether you’re a stay-at-home parent or a working parent, now you have some marketable skills to share with the world. Go tell your boss how you’ve leveled up and deserve that promotion. Tell your interviewer that you deserve the job even after the gap in employment because you have all these awesome new skills that you’re ready to put to use. Whatever your goals and passions are, these skills can help you reach them, so use them beyond just management of your family and household. Let them spill over into other areas of your life and spread the badassery everywhere you go!
Much love and productive vibes,
Momma Caped Nerd ❤
What are some other skills you’ve acquired since becoming a parent? Help out my readers and leave a comment below!
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