Pixar parenting

This is a short post to share my feelings about parenthood at this moment.

I have always dreamt of being a Dad. But I was not prepared for how much some things genuinely made me feel sad. The loss of autonomy, which has been well documented, was a key one for me that I struggled with the most. If I could have one word to describe myself it would be spontaneous (with a healthy dash of FOMO). The newborn stage was by far the hardest stage. Dealing with both ends of the scale of emotions of pure happiness holding my daughter to deep sadness for the life I once had made me feel quite guilty of having such feelings.

But fast forward to today, my daughter is now 2 - and I keep catching myself being the happiest I have ever been. My life is exactly what you see in the Pixar movies. Going to the park and watching her go down the slide. Chasing her around the playground as the sun sets in the distance. Teaching her how to put together DUPLO. Kissing her knee when she falls over and telling her it's going to be all better. Carrying her from the car to her bed when she fell asleep on the way home.

Sometimes I meet other people and I tell them that I'm living in my Pixar parenting era, only for them to reply "oh just you wait till they turn 3 or just wait until XYZ happens then its all over". I fundamentally hate this mentality, it makes you think on the negatives rather focusing on other and more positive things about your child's age/milestones/progression. We have gone through a lot of these 'just wait till' moments, and yes some of them were true but a lot of them weren't. I don't want to keep a mental catalog of when things could be worse. I'm sticking to my core of who I am. Being spontaneous and present with my life - and I think that is the best way to be.