1. Dressing Him! In this department I was very naive. I remember being pregnant and looking at Pinterest searching toddler boys outfits, ( you can actually go to my Pinterest board and find all the ones I swore I was going to dress Owen in) little did I know that dressing a toddler is pretty rough. He hates when I take him out of his clothes, and he hates when I put them on. It's a lose, lose situation. I have to literally fight him to get him in an outfit (sometimes he wants to pick out his own clothes, which face it don't match), let alone a cute outfit with matching shoes. Because this child will only wear a select pair of shoes. He's a picky one I tell you.
2. FEEDING HIM! This one I figured would be challenging, but I really underestimated the word challenging. I figured if I make my son eat all the good healthy baby foods when he's a baby as a toddler, he WILL like those foods. Turned out I didn't know the truth. The 1 year mark hit and my once willing to eat anything you set in front of him baby, turned into the pickiest child ever. Bananas, yogurt, and cereal was his diet. Now it's turned into cereal and sometimes if I am lucky yogurt, hot-dogs, and those popsicles with the real fruit and veggies ( I figure that's as close as I'll get to him eating fruits and veggies at this point, and believe me I'll take what I can get, or rather what he'll eat).
3. CLEANING EARS! Okay this one is silly, but truthful. And I feel like other moms can feel my pain on this. I pull out the q-tips and Owen is running. So I have to sneak the q-tips out and hold him down literally. This probably takes #1 on most challenging things. I actually didn't ever even think about cleaning out my child's ears at all until I saw that first bit of wax and thought shoot really, I never thought about cleaning ears out! The first time however was a breeze compared to now.
4. LEAVING THE HOUSE! I figured grab my child, and the diaper bag and we'll be out the door shouldn't be to hard right? Well I was WRONG, DEAD WRONG! I have to fight my child into his clothes first. Then I remember OH CRAP, maybe I should've checked his diaper before dressing him. I finally have him ready to walk out the door when I remember that I still need to get my own stuff together. We finally start walking out the door, and oh shoot Owen turn around, turn around, you'll be a very upset toddler in a minute when you realize mommy forgot your sippy!
5. GETTING HIM IN THE CAR! I always thought baby's and toddlers loved car rides. Well maybe some, but mine doesn't. Ever since he was a newborn, he's hated being in the car. He's getting a little better, but still has his days, and man do I hate those days. I won't lie I usually bribe with things like candy or toys (which is actually a lie because I "forget" all about the candy and toys once we reach our destination and do anything and everything to avoid passing by these items.
6. Leaving Him! Don't get me wrong I love date nights with my husband, and going to the gym for my alone time and I know I probably shouldn't feel guilty but I always do. I feel like he is going to be upset with me for leaving him. I just have to remind myself, that time apart is good or I could turn into a crazy Mom.
So there we have it 6 things I really underestimated as being a challenge before I became a mom!