Raising a child isn't as bad as people make it out to be

CLEVELAND - I have had this thought about people who have kids for sometime, so I figured I would blog about it to see what everyone else thinks. When my wife and I get asked how our son Mason is doing, we tell them the truth. With this kid I think the truth hurts a little.

Mason has thrown up twice in his life, sleeps eight to ten hours a night, laughs, and smiles away most of the day. When we tell people this we usually get, “oh that’s great, but just wait.”

Just wait is phrases we have been hearing since we announced Mandi was pregnant, and to this day we haven’t had them, “wow, those people were right” moment.

Some kids must be true terrors, but so far Mason has been great and we are very lucky in that. But why does everyone want to talk about the horrors of child rearing?

It’s not the family who does the majority of this nightmare talk but it has happened. It seems to be co-workers and friends who want to only talk about the night their little monster screamed for hours, puked 14 times and threw the toy car into the flat screen TV.

We’ve heard all the morning sickness stories, the “he won’t sleep through the night and he’s going to have you washing clothes and bedding four times a day” stories. So far, none of these came true.

We must have the greatest baby ever, or I should play more lottery tickets. Either way, I am making a vow to only tell people the true joys and hilarious moments, and if they have a question about something, I might be able to help them.

There is something really funny about most of the crazy things that occur during a diaper change, and I don't find it to be a nightmare at all, and will strive to tell people about them without negativity.

Some of the tough stuff is going to happen, but the stories are told with such negativity that I think some people just want others to suffer so that they feel a little better.

Are we tired? Sure. But a child is work, so for all you miserable parents stop telling your pregnant and new parent friends about the horror of raising kids!