Expensive, exhausting and embarrassing

19th April 2012: Let me get one thing straight: I love my daughter. One smile from her can melt me. A cuddle often leaves me with a tear in my eye.

But, blimey, she’s exhausting. Dealing with toddler tantrums and being a constant entertainer often leaves me half asleep by the end of the day. 

She’s also rather expensive.

It’s not that I buy her lots of fancy clothes or toys - many of her things are lovingly handed to us by family or friends who’ve outgrown them. But it seems there’s not a month that goes by when we don’t need to fork out for something pricey, which is probably why my own wardrobe mainly consists of cast-offs from my glamorous sister!

And she has the habit of embarrassing me. Often. Think crowded supermarkets and tantrums, silent doctor’s surgeries and loud wind. You get the picture.

So, even though it’s terribly hard, if I had to use three words to sum up being a parent, to try and describe it to someone who isn’t a mum or dad, these three words would be: exhausting, expensive and embarrassing.

Jez agrees. As a dad of two, he says it’s doubly tiring!

And then we found a report that said the average cost of raising one child from birth to the age of 21 (university fees included) is around £218,000. £218,000 for ONE CHILD?!

Sort of proves our point about kids being expensive then.

When we asked you what three words you’d use to describe being a parent, the responses came thick and fast. Some were inspiring, heart-warming, uplifting, while others had me sobbing into my tea.

Dave from Stratton called us with his take on fatherhood. Have a listen to his three words…

Dave from Swindon's 3 words to describe being a parent

So, what three words would you use to describe being a parent?