Assessing Your Own Parental Readiness

*This post may contain affiliate links* or products that have been sent to me for review. You can find out more in my Privacy and Cookie Policy*

This is a collaborative post

If you want to become a parent, you’ve probably been thinking about the decision for a long time. Of course accidents happen, but most people like to take at least a couple years to think and prepare before a little one comes along. 

And if you’re currently in that period of your life, you need to know how to assess your parental readiness. It’s not something someone can do for you; it’s a deep, gut feeling that only you know about! But if you want to know what questions to ask yourself, we’ve listed the most important to get started with down below.

Start with Your Wellbeing

Your wellbeing, both physical and emotional, need to be honed in the run up to having kids. You need to know you’re in a good place to bring a new life into the world and raise them, as the issues a person can face with their health can often be passed down. 

It’s a good idea to use this time to focus on yourself as a person, and for your partner to do the same. Look into your family history, talk to your doctor about your current state of health, and even book in for some therapy.

Then Your Finances

Children cost a lot of money to raise, and that number is going up all the time. You could be spending £6,000 in the first year of their life alone, with the total cost adding up to over £200,000 by the time they’re 18. And for many ‘wanna-be’ parents out there, this can be too high a price. 

Consider Your Time Restraints

How much time do you currently have on your hands? Because adding a child into your routine is going to swallow nearly all of the time you have. And if you’ve got little to no spare time, this responsibility is going to be incredibly hard to take on. 

Which means this is the next thing to focus on. Whether you need to call in Homecare Services to help out with another relative or you need to take on less or different shifts at work, make sure you consider the possibilities long before conceiving. 

Think About What You Want

In becoming a parent, what is it you want? It seems like a basic question, but it has quite a few nuanced answers. Because we all have different expectations of parental life, and deciding what you want yours to look like is a fun exercise to have right now. So, what kind of life do you want your child to have, whilst you have a say? How will you shape their upbringing? Get an idea now to think about. 

Some people never feel ready to be a parent. However, they know deep down it’s what they really want. So if you find it difficult to answer questions like these, make sure that’s how you feel too, and you’ll be ready for most things that come your way.