I’m four-plus years into this parenting gig, and I feel like I’ve settled into a nice groove. No, I don’t get as much time to myself or enjoy as much disposable income as I would like, but that’s life with a kid. And yes, I could definitely do without the daily power struggles and battles (getting dressed, brushing teeth, sitting at the table to eat…why are simple things so hard?). However, sometime during Little Cotton Candy’s fourth year, something clicked for me and I feel settled and content with our life, and like I’ve finally learned a few things.

The number one thing I’ve learned from the past few years of being a mom? That everything I thought about parenting before having a kid was stupid. Does that sound like an exaggeration? Maybe slightly. But seriously, here are some of the things I thought I’d never do before having a kid (and yep, I’m eating my words—with a pink plastic spoon).

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Little Cotton Candy: How am I supposed to say no to this face?

1) Make my kid a separate dinner when he refuses to eat what we’re eating. I have talked about this before, but Little Cotton Candy is picky AF. We’ve always offered him a wide variety of foods and tried not to stigmatize anything, but his eating habits just are what they are. He doesn’t enjoy trying new things, and of the new things he does try, he doesn’t like most of them. I can’t tell you how often I have sung the Daniel Tiger song, “You gotta try new food ’cause it might taste go-ood!” Nine times out of ten it does not work.

2) Feed my baby formula. Okay, so I never said “never,” but I did have high hopes about nursing exclusively for at least a year, and things didn’t work out the way I’d envisioned. Luckily, formula was a lifesaver for us, and Little Cotton Candy thrived on it. No regrets here.

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3) Let my kid eat a chocolate croissant (plus sugar cereal while he waits for the croissant to be ready) for breakfast. Yep, this happened this morning. (Note to self: Next time, go downstairs early and turn on the oven!)

4) Put my kid in front of the TV so I can take a meeting/do some laundry/clean the kitchen/lay horizontally for half an hour.

5) Let my kid have “just one more episode” because I am finding it hard to get out of the horizontal position.

6) Create a mental block against installing car seats and not make myself learn until my kid is almost ready to graduate to a booster seat. Yeah, I’m not proud of this fact. But I finally learned how to install/remove Little CC’s car seat a couple of weeks ago, so at least I will know how with baby #2. (Bless my patient husband who this task always falls to.)

7) Clean up my kid’s toys/messes for him even though he is perfectly capable of doing it himself. My obsessive tendencies sometimes take over, and I can’t stand to look at the clutter anymore.

8) Put my kid’s clothes and shoes on him even though he is perfectly capable of doing it himself. Hey, sometimes you gotta get out the door!

9) Sleep next to my kid every night until he falls asleep, sacrificing pretty much all of my evening downtime. Parenting truth to top all parenting truths: Sometimes you just have to do what feels right to you.

10) Have a little mini-me who I love so much it hurts. I hoped I would have a special bond with my child once he was born, but I couldn’t have imagined the way it feels to love someone who looks to you for all of their needs and loves you more than anyone (except Dada). It’s overwhelming in the best way.

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Okay, it’s your turn to share with me the parenting things you do now that you thought you’d never do. C’mon, I can’t be alone, right?