It’s easy to say how you intend to raise your children before becoming a parent, but when the time comes, your strict regime may be very tricky to implement.
One woman has recently gone viral on TikTok after sharing her expectations compared with the reality, and it looks like thousands of parents can relate to it.
With more than 2.4 million views, the video of Aims, a mom-of-three, highlights how she allows everything she had said she wouldn’t, such as plastic toys and screen time.
The montage of clips shows Aims, 38, reiterating the rules that she was hoping to implement before having children, followed by video evidence of how she ended up doing the total opposite.
“There will be no plastic toys in the house,” she says, followed by a clip of her putting away a large basket full of said items.
“There will be zero screen time,” she once said, but now two of her children have their own iPads.
“They will only eat organic meals that I have made from scratch,” but, now, she is partial to throwing a few frozen hashbrowns into the oven.
Before having children, she believed that “playing outside is food for the child’s soul,” but now, she may tell them the odd white lie and pretend the park is closed.
She also vowed never to “bad mouth the child’s father in front of them,” and points out that “emotional blackmail” will not be a tool she will use. Followed by a video of herself holding a bowl and stating she feels “so sad” because there’s still food left.
Last, but certainly not least, she states she had no intention of using her cellphone in front of the children, but now she may multitask and play with dolls while scrolling.
Kyryl Gorlov/iStock/Getty Images Plus
Aims isn’t alone. In fact, a Pew Research Center survey revealed that moms are more likely than dads to say being a parent is harder than they expected.
At the time of writing, the original video shared to @aims.lc had amassed 238,800 likes and almost 2,000 comments.
One comment, with 17,600 likes, said: “I was a perfect parent……before I had kids.”
“It’s amazing how many times they close the parks,” said another.
“I got 2 hours of sleep for the last two days before starting work as my baby has started getting up at 2am. I’ve been trading screen time for a nap,” said another parent.
“OMG YASSSSSS GURL!!!!!!! REAL MUMS UNITE!” praised a fourth mom.
Newsweek reached out to @aims.lc for comment. We couldn’t verify the details of the case.
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Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.