23 Moments You Know You’re a Parent in Hawaiʻi

From funny to embarrassing, here's our list of 23 moments only parents understand. How many can you check off?

I never thought I would be a rookie parent. As the youngest children in the family, my husband and I had 10 nieces and nephews to practice on for years. Before I was pregnant I had already changed innumerable diapers, walked multiple babies to sleep and even, during one trip to Maui, cleaned the car seat of a carsick toddler. Admittedly, I was the one who fed him too much ice cream before we buckled in. Indulgent aunty mistake.

We quickly learned, our own child was a completely different situation. Suddenly, you really understand those moments that only other moms and dads can truly appreciate. Welcome to the parent club.

We polled the HONOLULU Family team to come up with our top 23 parent moments.

You Know You’re a Parent When (in no particular order):

1. You know where every bathroom is on Oʻahu.

2. You have half-eaten lollipops in your refrigerator or freezer.

3. You’ve caught yourself saying “Now, what do you say?” to any adult who didn’t say “please” or “thank you”.

4. You have a vase full of weeds that you’re not allowed to throw away.

5. 9 p.m. is late.

6. You’ve left the house unaware that a sticker or glitter is stuck to your hair, face or behind.

7. At a professional meeting, you don’t have any business cards, but you do have three kiddie snacks, Wet Ones and a toy.

8. You don’t dry clean.

9. You don’t lie about your age. You lie about theirs, for the free plane ride, keiki fares at movies, or to get them into fairs, museums and festivals free.

10. You know everything that Brown Bear sees.

11. Every outfit you have has odd stains right at kid level.

12. You wait for 90 minutes in the sweltering heat for your child’s chance to play for 10 minutes at a “snow day.”

13. You’ve excused yourself to go to the “potty”.

14. You’ve had a meal you’re ashamed to talk about (i.e. my 6-year-old’s soggy cereal, a handful of old Easter M&Ms, the banana from the “tsum tsum’s breakfast” and a partially chewed piece of peanut butter toast.)

15. At least two pairs of extra keiki slippers are rattling around in your car. Bonus points if you have two complete pairs.

16. You know the proper names of every construction vehicle/Disney Princess. Bonus points if you’ve been listening to the Frozen, Moana, or Trolls soundtrack nonstop for the last six months.

17. You’ve had a Lego-related foot injury in the last six months.

18. When you chaperone your child’s field trip, you feel guilty about sending them with a Spam musubi, until you see all of his or her classmates pulling one out of their lunch bag.

19. The number of bubble tea parties you attend has gone up and the number of late-night trips to the bar with friends has gone way, way down.

20. Plastic glitter shoes and sneakers that squeak or light up are squeezing out the high heels and dress shoes on your shoe rack.

21. You can’t see the refrigerator. It’s buried beneath artwork.

22. You can simultaneously monitor two or more shave ice, successfully keeping them from collapsing.

23. It takes you at least 15 minutes to leave a party because your child must honi honi every uncle and aunty on the way out.

Did we miss one? We blame it on the sleep-deprivation. Tell us about the moment you knew you were a parent for a chance to win a prize including books for the kids or a dinner out for you.

Email, Facebook us or Instagram your photo with hashtag #localkineparents.