10 Marriage and Parenting Spoilers I Wish I’d Known

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The Amazing Spider Man 2 came out in theaters this past weekend. Spidey was probably my favorite super hero growing up as a kid. Shoot he’s probably still my favorite super hero today! (Dad’s still like that stuff).

Avoiding the spoilers

Unlike when Captain America came out, I didn’t go see it opening weekend. So, while I read a couple reviews on Friday, I’m not doing my best to avoid any spoilers. I also don’t want my view of the movie to be tainted (good or bad) in advance. Spoilers can mess up your movie experience in a big way.

On the other hand as a husband and dad with over a decade experience, some marriage and fatherhood spoilers would have been great. They could have changed my outlook, prepared me for some rough times, and probably saved me from making some stupid decisions.

My very own spoilers

My friend, Erik Deckers emailed me about a post he wrote, Ten Spoilers I Could Have Used. It got me thinking. What if I knew how the story would play out in marriage and fatherhood. This all led me to create my list of marriage and parenting spoilers. I wish I’d known these 10 spoilers when I decided to get married and raise family.

  1. Bugs are really fierce creatures. You become a hero when you kill them and don’t complain.
  2. You can’t win a disagreement. You can only live to disagree another day.
  3. You will miss those days when your kids were little and didn’t know anything. Because they will soon be big and know everything.
  4. Doing laundry, cooking meals, doing anything domestic (sexy) will be highly rewarding.
  5. Silence is golden during shows like Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy. On the other hand sharing your sarcastic comments and jokes during the shows will get you banned and lead to a rough day or two.
  6. You will get old. Your body will change. It will take longer to recover from simple physical activities. So never stop playing basketball, working out, or being physically active.
  7. Deciding to have your honeymoon at a state park and staying a week in a log cabin with a “romantic” hot tub when your wife is terrified of bugs and is more of an indoor girl, may not be a great decision.
  8. Become familiar with the fastest route to the ER, as your kids must really like the movies there because they’ll spend a lot of time there. Don’t be alarmed though, they’ll be fine.
  9. Find a babysitter early in your relationship. In fact, make that one of your top goals because it will be crucial for your relationship as you and your wife both need regular date nights.
  10. Keep calm and be cool even though you and your family will be “running behind” to almost everything you do together.

Learning from our very own spoilers (experiences)

There you have it, my marriage and parenting spoilers which could have made a world of difference for my marriage and parenting relationships. I can’t go backwards and benefit from them, but maybe I can benefit from the lessons going forward.

You can do the same thing with what you’ve learned and experienced in marriage and as a parent.

If you created a list for your family what would be one spoiler you’d include? Please share in the comment section below.

Netflix_StreamTeam_Badge (1)I’m part of the Netflix Stream Team, and as part of my partnership with Netflix I’m excited to offer a three-month subscription code for one of my readers. All you have to do is leave a comment below with the answer to the question I asked above. The first to do so will win three free months from Netflix!

photo credit: fliegender via photopin cc

May 5, 2014