Ten things that get easier about parenting

1. Time erodes that initial shock of realisation, when the penny drops that the baby will become a toddler, then a child, then a teenager, then an adult… your whole life has been transformed and no, you can't send them back.
2. The Fear dims.  That clutching panic that something might take them away, tomorrow, at 5 years old, at 21, at 27. You become accustomed to the vulnerability of loving that much.
3. They get more interesting as they grow. Signs of recognition, then interaction, amusement.  You can start to have fun.
4. Sleeping. They’ll do it eventually.  In weaker moments, it will feel like the sleepless hell is eternal, but it isn’t.
5. You start to become one of those confident mums who can make wise suggestions to someone in the same panic you were in 2 months previously.  No longer being the most pathetic and lost is a huge confidence boost.
6. You can hand them over to someone else and even forget about them for brief periods.
7. Not breastfeeding any more – you can pollute your body as much as you like, be it caffeine, booze or more.
8. You understand their needs and know why they are crying.
9. They cry a LOT less. From an average 20 hours a day at 2 months, to less than 5 minutes a day at 14 months. That feels wonderful.  
10. I spent the first 8 months (or so) in a state of horrified exhaustion. That feeling has evaporated now and I wonder what I was making all the fuss about.