3 important parenting realizations:

1. Sleep: There is a direct correlation between the hours of sleep I get and whether I see the glass as empty or full.

I knew I loved sleep before I had a baby, but I didn't realize how deeply it affected my mood and personality. It is amazing how fast a nap can clear away the clouds from my life.

I have always thought of myself as an optimist, but now I would define myself in more relative terms. The amount of optimism and good nature I have is directly proportional to the amount of sleep I get.

2. Patience: I thought I had more than I actually do.

I remember moments when I would be sitting in traffic, and someone would cut me off, I would feel the anger rising, and I would then remind myself to take a deep breath, and remember that I have probably done the same to someone else before. The anger would dissipate and I would revel in my ability to remain calm.

Standing in front of a screaming baby, my eyes aching from sleep, my brain rushing through the regular list : fed, changed, napped, burped....then what?

Let's just say I can take a hundred deep breaths, but still patience is not so easily attained.

3. Time: It's precious...

My baby is growing fast. The rolling over has now turned into crawling and standing, before I know it the "ma maas" and "baa baas" are going to turn into "no nos" and "I wants". I have to remind myself to savor each stage, it is fleeting.

Time I get to myself is also very precious. I am always amazed when I think back to how much time I had before I had a baby. What did I do with all that time?

Needless to say, I try to be very conscious about how I spend the few hours I get to myself now.