Becoming a parent is one of the hardest jobs you can take on. There’s no training, no manual – one day this tiny little stranger enters your life and completely takes over. Of course, you love your child, but sometimes it’s hard not to reminisce back on a time when your life was, well, yours. Instagram account Got Toddlered does just that – highlighting life before and after having kids and just how different those two worlds are.
Life Before and After Having Kids: A Photo Series
Mike Julianelle, Brooklyn-based dad and author of the blog Dad and Buried created Got Toddlered as a way to show life before and after having kids and how drastically children change your life.
From Friday night parties, concerts, and international back-packing trips to spit-up, diaper changes, and passing out by 8:30 pm, very quickly your life looks very different.
The majority of Got Toddlered are photos submitted by followers of them before having kids versus after. Julianelle then stitches them together, throws a witty caption on it, and boom: You’ve been, well, toddlered.
These are just a few of the hilarious pictures he posts proving that having kids really is something else.
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1. If I fits, I sits.
2. Remembering a simpler time.
3. Before and after having kids: A different meaning to the words “double fisting”.
4. You’re not as hard-core as you think you are.
5. From beauty queen to someone else’s throne.
6. To think the only person who used to throw up on you was you.
7. Just a little bit lower energy.
8. From dancing queen to clean-up crew.
9. What is St. Patrick’s Day again?
10. Part parent, part horse.
11. The word “dad” just hits different now.
12. Before and after having kids: No more daytime daiquiris.
13. The term “casual stroll” doesn’t exist anymore.
14. Off for a bike ride: Before and after having kids
15. “Remember when I was an only child?”
16. Taking life at a slower pace.
17. When happy hour used to be for you.
18. Before and after having kids: A different kind of drinking game.
19. At least he’s still finding time to catch some rays.
20. I don’t think she wants s’more.
It’s A Tough Job, But Someone’s Gotta Do it!
If there’s anything that Got Toddlered shows, it’s that parenting is certainly not a glamorous job. While your kids may completely turn your life upside down, one thing is certain: In between the clean-ups, tantrums, and moments of pure exhaustion, they’re your kids. You love them, and you wouldn’t take your old life back even if you could (Well… okay, maybe for your just one night!).
Bravo to all the hard-working parents out there, may this article help you laugh a little at your own life and help get you through the tough days. What stories do you have of before and after having kids?
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