4 Ways to Prepare for Children (Guest Post)

Parenthood is hard and it is never what you expect it to be. When you are expecting your first baby, a lot of people expect it to be cuddles, rainbows, and toys, 90% of the time. If this sounds like you, then I’m here to give you a wake up call. Parenthood is challenging. It is tiring. And it is stressful. But, if you prepare, you can make it a bit easier on yourself. Here are a few ways to prepare for parenthood (although, you will never really be fully prepared):

Quit Bad Habits

Though this may just sound like generic advice, you would probably be extremely surprised at how helpful kicking bad habits can be when you're trying to prepare for parenthood. When you have kids, you won't have as much time to care for yourself and you will be far more tempted to indulge in bad habits - and when you are a good parent, that is a huge no-no. 

Go ahead. Stop smoking, stop going out late at night to binge drink, and get your fitness and healthy eating habits in order. Why should you do this? Well, there are many reasons, but maybe consider these four perks you'll get if you get into shape before your baby is born:

• You'll have healthier kids and an easier birth. People who are heavily overweight are generally considered to be high-risk births because their weight could put them at risk of pre-eclampsia or gestational diabetes. Losing weight and getting fit will reduce those risks dramatically and will also give your child a healthy advantage. 

• Your body will be ready to handle sleepless nights better. The first couple of months with a newborn are pretty brutal. Having a healthy body will make it easier to deal with. 

• Kids mimic what they see their parents do. There's a reason parents who smoke have kids who are more likely to smoke as adults. If you want to avoid your kids making the same mistakes you did, you'll kick your bad habits. 

• Being healthy might also help conception. A healthy couple is more likely to conceive than an unhealthy one. 

Prepare Financially

One of the most important steps when preparing for parenthood is to make sure that you are financially prepared because kids are very expensive and there are a lot of unexpected costs. Before you have kids, you will want to get your finances in order and after you have kids, you will want to be prepared for unexpected expenses along the way. If you are not, there are options, though! Companies such as local Atlanta business, Chapes-JPL can help you out if you get stuck. Chapes-JPL was established in 1980 as an alternative to banks and traditional pawnbrokers. They provide low interest loans on gold, diamonds, jewelry, watches, and they even provide car pawn loans! They say, “Since 1980, Chapes-JPL has been offering car pawn shop loans at the lowest rates in the industry. We can’t be beat because we offer a more educated and unique approach to asset loans.  All appraisals are performed at our private, upscale and highly secure office. Finally, Chapes-JPL will offer more cash for your car equity and at the lowest rates available. WE GUARANTEE IT! The whole process takes no longer than an hour and should you choose to do business with us, you will leave our office with a check in hand.” In addition to all of that, they do not require credit checks, tax returns, job verifications, or personal references, since they loan strictly on collateral. This means that the typical loan is done in minutes instead of days or weeks. Offering loan rates as low as 3%, Chapes-JPL is here to help you reach your financial goals, especially when you have unexpected costs come up. 

Learn To Say No

This is a huge one - you need to learn to say no and trust me, it can be very hard with a cute little munchkin’ tugging at your heart strings. But trust me, as a parent, it is essential to be able to say no because when you do say no, it is always with their best interest in mind. Mind Body Green recommends taking your time before saying yes or no so that you have time to really think about it. “I once had a supervisor who never said yes to any request without first saying, "Let me think about it." Even if the idea was a no-brainer and I knew she would approve it, she habitually bought herself some time to think things through. I thought it was brilliant. There are very few requests, invitations, or propositions that need to be answered right away. As somebody who's had to learn that it's OK to say "no," I still notice my initial reaction to almost any request of me is a cheerful "sure!" I've had to learn to take some time to think about what is being asked of me before I answer.”

Prepare Your Relationship

Unfortunately, sometimes, after couples have kids, their relationships end up failing. Don’t let this happen to you. Instead, you need to prepare yourself and your relationship for the transition that you are about to make. Having kids is not an easy job and it will definitely put a strain on every single one of your relationships (especially when it comes to a romantic relationship), but as long as you prepare and are constantly working to improve and better your relationship, you can make it through parenthood together!