The waking up every two hours…it’s just a phase

Colic…it’s just a phase

Teething…it’s just a phase

Throwing food out of the highchair…it’s just a phase

Saying ‘no’ to everything….it’s just a phase

The climbing on the furniture…it’s just a phase

The temper tantrums…it’s just a phase

The weeing on the floor…it’s just a phase

The potty training regression…it’s just a phase

The waking at 5am…it’s just a phase

The asking ‘why’ 400 times a day…it’s just a phase

The silly noises…it’s just a phase.

Parenting can be hard work. Bloody hard work. All the horror stories and babysitting in the world can’t prepare you for just how hard it is. Pretty much the only thing that has kept me going through the past nearly five years is the fact that most of the difficult bits really are just a phase. They do pass. When I think back to when Harrison was a newborn and waking every 90 minutes for a feed. I was so, so tired, more than I had ever been in my life, and there just seemed no end to the sleepless nights. Then one night, he slept through. And again the next night. And then that phase was over.

Last year, Harrison started making silly noises. It sounds pretty minor, but it really began to wear us down after a couple of weeks. Everyone kept telling us ‘it’s just a phase’, and I didn’t believe them. Guess what? It was. Alex has now started doing it, and whilst it irritates the s**t out of us, we are much more relaxed, because we know that it is just a phase, and one day he won’t do it.

There are aways going to be phases, whether they are toddlers or teenagers, but remember, they do (usually!) pass, and one day in the future, you’ll probably look back at that time with a smile. Or not….