From the first moment you lay eyes on your new baby, there is something that changes in you. Suddenly, you no longer matter and it’s all about your child. Everything quickly changes from “what can we do to make our lives better” to “what can we do to make our child’s life better”. We begin to model our whole life around our child’s schedule and needs. This is what being a parent does, it transforms us into someone who puts another’s needs before our own, someone who sees the beauty in our child’s learning and laughter.

Here are 5 ways parenting makes you a better person:

1. You become more fun!

Children are silly, warm, and funny. It’s hard to find a person who doesn’t melt at the smile of a chubby baby. Even after the baby years, the fun keeps on going and, it gets even more fun! Children have a way of keeping us light at heart and helping us to see the funny side of any situation. Our children have a way of teaching us to be children again.

2. You become a teacher

After your child is born, you want to teach them everything. How to talk, walk, count, draw, read, and all the stuff in between. As you are teaching your child, you develop more skill at explaining things in a way your child will understand. Naturally, this will carry over into everyday life and may even help you to see how others may not understand a situation or process. You will be less irritated in these situations because you are used to explaining things to your children.

3. You become patient

Patience comes with the territory of parenthood. Of course with all of the repetitive teaching and explaining, you will become more patient. As your child gets older, you may start to notice you have to repeat a lot of things to your child. When we do this, we tend to build up more patience, since we understand that they are still learning. Of course as you encounter other situations in life where patience is needed, you will have easier time dealing with them.

4. You start thinking more innocently

After you become a parent, you start to change your ways and lifestyle. We stop or at least limit ourselves from saying bad words and you may also notice that you sometimes start baby-talking to your friends or husband. We don’t think of the way we used to and become more PG. We may not think that the NickJr cartoons are as cheesy as we used to and may actually enjoy watching them with our child.

5. You become better at finding stress relief

Surely by now, you have found that being a parent can be a little hectic and even stressful at times. If you are a problem-solver like most moms and dads, you may have discovered ways to relieve stress like walking, exercising, journaling and much more. When you know how to relieve the everyday stresses of life, you become a better person for your family and friends.