This is the kind of mother I'm going to be. Am I kidding myself?

I’m not a mum yet. But when I am one, these are the promises I won’t break.

As I watch my friends and family have kids, and I inch towards the baby-making time of my own life,  like everyone before me, I make mental notes of  what kind of parent I want to be.

I also know that I am sure that all my promises to my future children will be sucked from my brain as pregnancy-brain sets in and then parent-fog (due to lack of sleep) takes its hold.

So, to remind my future mum-self, I have written a list of my promises to my future child, and here they are:

– I promise to take care of myself, too. Not because I want to look like a yummy-mummy (that would be nice, though), but because I know that if I look after myself I will be a better mum to you.

– I promise to teach you how to express yourself as soon as possible, so you don’t feel the need to fall in a heap every time you feel I am not listening to you.

– I promise to always find patience, even at 2 in the morning.

– I promise I won’t pretend to be smarter than I actually am. If I don’t know the answer, instead of making up something, I will help you find the answer.

– I promise not to teach you that family is the most important. I know that family is just one of your important social circles and so I will teach you that those (friends and one-day colleagues) are just as important. And I will be interested in your friends.

- I promise not to expect you to get along with your sibling(s) all of the time – and I promise not to compare you to them.

- I will listen to your stories. Even if I have heard them a million times already.

- I will feed you healthy food without making it seem like you have to eat it. I will teach you about treat food, but sorry, Maccas and its equivalents are completely out under my watch.

- I will try to not over-react but listen to you calmly when you tell me something you did wrong. (But just a heads up, I understand you will make mistakes, but I expect you to learn from them.)

- I won't complain to you about you. or to the world. Or to Facebook (or whatever new social media I will be using). But I will complain about you to my friends over coffee.

- I promise not to be your best friend. You can find one of those at school. I will be your mum. Those are a bit harder to find.

- I will make sure to play with you each and every day. Even if it is just 5 minutes. And I will read to you every night until you can read to yourself.

- I will have no problem with you and technology and using it a lot. I will be the one teaching you to touch type.

- I will teach you how to clean up after yourself. How to make the bed (properly). How to garden. How to do laundry. How to change a light bulb.

- I won’t be one of those overbearing mums who wants to know every tiny detail of every thing you do and won’t let you do anything for yourself. You can be as independent as you are ready to be. I also won’t complain that you are too dependent.

- I will teach you how to have confidence – not only in your appearance, but in your thoughts and emotions. I will make sure you are sure of yourself.

- When you are a moody, grumpy teenager, I won’t call you a moody, grumpy teenager. I remember how annoying that is. I will also let you believe that you know stuff – because being so sure about life and the world doesn’t last forever.

- I will make sure you are ambitious in whatever you want to do.

Oh, and the most important. I will tell you I love you all the time.

Okay. Hit me. Which ones am I kidding myself with?

I also promise not to pimp your pram like these parents. CLICK THROUGH the gallery to see how far these parents went when pimping their baby's ride.

Want more? Try:

10 bad habits that parents need to stop doing now.

The parents so extreme they made a TV show about them.

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