As someone that doesn't have an especially strong urge to have kids anytime soon, I'm often told things like: “It's a completely life-changing experience;” “your priorities are turned upside down;” and “nothing can describe the feeling you get when you first hold your own child in your hands.”
Now, I don't doubt for a second that the act of procreation fulfills one of the most basic and fundamental human needs and brings about incredible and joyous emotions that only a parent can really understand.
However, while parenting is surely amazing, rewarding and life-changing beyond words, it can also take its toll! From the calm, romantic, fun-loving and free couples of before to the flustered, stressed and vomit-stained parents of afterward, these photos amusingly highlight some of the change that all parents go through - and even though they will surely say that it was 100% worth it - meh, I'm still not quite convinced yet.
The 'before vs after parenting pics' trend was started by forty-something Brooklyn dad Mike Julianelle, who runs the 'Got Toddlered' Instagram page and also has a popular parenting blog that shares his experiences of being the father to two crazy sons. We had a previous post covering the first batch of hilarious examples, and they were so popular that we have come back with more! Scroll down to check them out for yourself, and let us know your thoughts and stories in the comments!
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This Doesn’t Even Need A Caption. I Should Literally Delete Every Other Picture On This Page And Replace Them All With This And Put “Mission Accomplished” In My Bio. My Work Here Is Done. All Joking Aside, This Guy Is A Champ And A Half! Giving Us Dads A Good Name!
Bored Panda was lucky enough to speak to Mike himself, who shared some of his famously witty insights on the realities of parenting with us.
"Look, I don’t hate my kids, I just hate parenting," he told us with a laugh. "That’s really all it boils down to, and is the premise behind all my Dad and Buried stuff - my blog, my Instagram page, my Facebook, and my podcast (Dad and Buried - subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and everywhere else you get podcasts!) - and my Got Toddlered account."
"Parenting is challenging and frustrating and expensive and exhausting and stressful and boring, and while my sons are often all of those things as well, I don’t regret having them. How dare you suggest such a thing just because I occasionally make jokes and memes that make it seem that way!"
From Dressed To The Nines To Asleep By Nine
Every Once In A While, Parenthood Is A Major Improvement
"I mock and troll my kids, and I trash and ridicule parents and parenting, and myself, because that’s my sense of humor, and my sense of humor is what keeps me sane amidst the all-consuming hellscape of attempting to protect and raise ignorant, unformed, self-destructive miniature human beings."
"I recently had a job interview. Job interviews are stressful no matter what stage of life you’re at, but, like everything else, having children raises the stress exponentially. I’m not just providing for myself anymore, and the stakes are much higher now; the consequences of blowing a job interview are a lot more intense. And so was getting there, because I had to take my toddler with me."
Honeymoon’s Over!
For Obvious Reasons, This Cat Has Learned To Sleep With One Eye Open
"Being unemployed, we can’t afford childcare, so I had to ride the subway, in a full suit, on one of the hottest days of the summer, with my toddler on my lap and/or napping next to me. Thankfully I didn’t have to bring him to the interview itself; I was able to drop him with my wife. The logistics of all of this – the scheduling, the traveling, the hand off, the carrying of a sleeping toddler across Manhattan while sweat poured off me like a waterfall, etc. – were incredibly complicated."
"None of this was ideal. But I had to do it, I had to put my best foot forward for the job, so I can provide for my family, and, more importantly, so I can get the hell out of my house. I can’t handle being a stay at home dad for another minute!"
Mike's kids are 8 (9 in September) and 3.5. Right now he's a stay at home dad, not exactly by choice, and he spends his time writing honest and insightful blogs about the issues that he struggles with at times. Because scrolling through social media, you'd be forgiven for thinking that everyone is just the perfect parent - happy, energetic and full of great ideas for nurturing excellent human beings. You rarely see behind the curtain! Mike gives an honest evaluation of parenthood, and his blog is essential reading for parents and non parents alike!
Made Our 1 Year Wedding Anniversary Picture!
Parenting Gets You Into Some Sticky Situations. (These Captions Can’t All Be Winners!)
From “I’m On A Boat!!!” To “He’s On My Throat!!!” (This Is One Of My Favorites!)
The Dog Days Are Over
From “Haaaaaaayyyyyy!” To “Wait! I’ve Got A New Complaint...”
This About Sums It Up
Actually Maximus, No, I’m Not Entertained. Thanks For Asking! (Love How The Shirt Goes From Sincere To Ironic When The Kid Shows Up!)
I’m Not Sure Which Situation Is More Hazardous To His Health...
It Doesn’t Take Long For Them To Go From Cute To Crushing
This Dapper Gent Went From Refined Af To Resigned To His Fate
Don't let this dog's sad eyes fool you, he loves the attention, he would have walked away if he didn't - speaking from Great Dane experience. Mine would stay put for awhile and when she had enough attention, just stood up and walked away - with the child on her back or dumped them off, lol
From Drinking Together To *making Drinks* Together
From Sex On The Beach To Dead On Her Feet! This Juxtaposition Almost Makes Me Feel Bad, But The Truth Must Be Told! Also, The Baby’s Mouth Is Wide Open Too Omg
Sex on the beach can lead to a +1. The good news is that the baby is adorable, and so is the mom, despite being dead on her feet.
If people said 'hey there, looking fertile' ....instead of 'looking sexy'....we might be more cautious.
Aha... I see what you did there. Your profile name makes it even better.
Load More Replies...it's true. . . this kid looks just like his Mom. . . same mouth, same nose, same eyes. . .
From Da King To Dafuq?!
Cats love kids, especially the little ones. Well, until they pull their tails 😅
His Drinking Buddies Have Changed
From Partying All Night To Peppa’s Windy Fall Day
What’s The Opposite Of A Glow Up?
Older Siblings Can Get Toddlered Too! Not That He Seems To Mind Trading His Mouthguard For A Tiara
From Fat Tuesdays To Ass Wednesdays
They Never Suspected That When They Found Nemo They’d Also Lose Their Dignity
And To Think, She Used To Be The One Who Threw Up After Drinking Too Much
Look At What That Baby Has Reduced This Once Proud Man To. And The Kid Knows It Too! “No More Relaxing Dinners Out, You Eat In Bed Now And You Love It! I Own You!!!
From Striking A Pose To Serving As Poster Board
From Little Black Dress To Big White Mess. I Can’t Believe She Stopped To Take A Photo Before Incinerating That Hoodie!
Double Double-Fisting!
I don't think the person who wrote this title knows what fisting means.
Kids! They’ll Steal Your Life-Force And *literally* Suffocate You, And Somehow You’ll Still Find Yourself Smiling While They Do
Look At Her Little Girl’s Face. She Knows What She Did
Something Tells Me This Cat Is Not Happy About Losing The Prime Snuggle Spot!
From “Life’s A Beach!” To “Life’s A B**ch!”
Let’s Just Say The Bouquets Are Very Different
Parenthood Even Changes Your Wardrobe. This Guy Went From Wearing A Suit To Wearing His Kids, Which Is So Much More Expensive
One Of These Precious Commodities Is Fragile, Expensive, And Occasionally Explodes Into A Big Mess All Over Your Clothes. The Other Is A Huge Bottle Of Champagne
I Try Not To Post “Afters” Where The Parent Is Smiling - It’s Off-Brand! - But I Gotta Respect The Matching Shades - And The Shift From A Glass Of Wine To A Can Of Wine!
From Raising A Glass To Raising The Dead
It Makes Sense That This Dog’s Name Is Snorkel Because He Is Drowning (Yes I Know That Doesn’t Make Sense, Shut Up)
We Don’t Deserve Dogs. We *definitely* Deserve Toddlers
It’s Yours Truly! Who Needs Faceapp When You Can Just Have Kids?
Check Out That Beard Growth! Somebody’s Been Drinking Giant’s Milk!
Oh You Thought Running That Race Was Tiring? Parenting Isn’t A Marathon, It’s 8 Million Marathons, All In A Row With No Breaks. Good Luck!
From Sitting On A Throne To Becoming A Footstool
Glasses Used To Be His Cutest Accessory
The Hills Are Aliiiiive, With The Sound Of Mom Not Giving S**t While Her Toddler Chugs Soda Because At Least He’s Being Quieeeeet!
To Be Fair, This Dog Seemed A Bit Unhinged Even Before The Baby Came Along. But At Least Then He Was Free!
Husbands Are A Little Easier To Wrangle For Photos!
From All Glammed Up To Completely Wiped Out
From “Make It Rain!” To “Make It Stop!”
From Intentionally Stopping To Take In The View To Being Forced Against Your Will To Watch Some Kid-Based Nonsense
That’s Some Solid Multitasking! But Things Were Definitely More Fun When She Was The One Hitching A Ride
Once You Have Kids, It’s Probably Time To Stop Wearing White
sooo, you're telling me the first thing that comes to her mind when her baby puked, is to take a selfie...?
Up All Night, Sleep All Day
It’s A Jungle Out There!
Posing For Classy Pictures Used To Be Much Easier
From Chug To Ugh
Peace, Love And Rock ‘N Roll Are All Well And Good Until You End Up Crashed Out In A Tiny Hospital Room With A Tiny Groupie Latched To Your Chest
What’s The Opposite Of A Glow Up? Oh Right: Parenthood
From Hoisting A Pint To Hoisting A Pipsqueak
From Melisandre To Euron Or, If You Don’t Watch Game Of Thrones, From Princess Buttercup To Dread Pirate Roberts Or, If You Don’t Like The Princess Bride, From Lady In Red To Blackbeard
Messy Hair Do Care But Can’t Do Anything About It Because Kids
Lifting The Wine Glass Was A Lot Easier
From Fatigues To Fatigued. Either Way, I Wouldn’t Mess With Him
I Hope That Tux Was A Rental
She Went From Cosmopolitans To Mudslides (I’m So Sorry)
From Crazy Swag To A Total Drag
She’s Not Laughing Anymore!
From Getting Banged To Being F**ked
If I Were Breastfeeding On The Toilet, I’d Need A Pacifier To Keep From Crying Too
From Skinny Abs To Chubby Cheeks
Look, He’s Got No One To Blame But Himself. Waste Away In Margaritaville For Too Long And You End Up At The Doctor’s Office!
From Getting Whispered Sweet Nothings To Getting Screamed Horrible Nothings.
Kids Take Everything From You, Including Your Favorite Vintage T-Shirts
From Queen Of The Wicker Throne To Being Ridden Like A Dragon
Used To Be Awake, Got Toddlered
No, These Photos Of Two Cats Snuggling On The Bed And Then Spreading To Completely Opposite Sides When A Baby Arrives Are A Metaphor For Your Sex Life
Neither Of Them Seems Particularly Pleased With This New Arrangement
From Badass To... Badass!
Yeah This About Sums It Up
You Can Practically Hear Mom Crying In That Second Pic. Don’t Judge; Like Your Kids Have Never Made You Curl Up Into The Fetal Position! Especially When They’re That Snotty!
Started At The Bottom Now We Wipin’ ‘Em
These Two Photos Sum This Account Up Perfectly. When You Have Kids You Got From Flying High To Literally Being Pinned Down. From Point Break To Your Breaking Point
The First #mancrushmonday Of 2019 Features A Dad Who Who Went From Kicking Opponents In The Face On A Regular Basis To Getting His Ass Completely Kicked, Every Day, For Basically The Rest Of His Life. By Someone He Can’t Kick Back Without Serious Consequences
From Slappin’ Da Bass To Nappin’ All Over The Place
I’m Not Big On Stereotypes But In This Case It’s True: She Was Definitely Having More Fun As A Blonde
Don’t Worry, They’re Throwing The Kids Back
I Assume He’s Asking For Two Vasectomies, Just To Be Safe
If It’s Not Scottish, It’s Crap!
He Went From Easy Riding To Sitting Shitgun
From Hanging Out With Farm Animals To... Hanging Out With Farm Animals
I Can’t Tell If He’s More Shocked By His New Look Or By His New Kid
Honeymoon’s Over
The Ecstasy And The Agony
From Hoisting Babes To Hoisting Babies. At Least He Doesn’t Look At All Sad About It!
From Sexily Posing On A Chair To Desperately Wanting To Finally Effing Sit Down For The Love Of God!
What Happened To My Life?!
Float Like A Butterfly, Sting Like You Shoulda Got A Vasectomy
From Flowers In Her Hair To Messy Hair Don’t Care!
It’s Woman Crush Wednesday, So I Am Tempted To Make A Joke About The Danger That Baby Is In, But I Feel Too Bad That She Has Probably Spent A Fortune On New Bras
From Sun Bathing To Son Cradling
His Kids Put The Crush - And, Thankfully For Him, The Plush - In
From Mountains To Streams
From Skydiving To Couch-Surfing. From ”free As A Bird” To “Snug As A Bug.” From Death-Defying To Life-Draining
From Duck Face To Wtf Face
From Oktoberfest To No Hair Left. (They Can’t All Be Winners!)
This Guy Went From “Look At Me With My Badass Bloody Mary, Take A Pic!” To “Wtf Are You Doing You Better Delete That Photo!”
From Fun With S’mores To Fun With S’mohmygod Wtf Are You Doing You’re Gonna Burn The Place Down You Lunatic!!!
My Man’s Been Resting Precious Cargo On That Shoulder For Years! Unfortunately The New Cargo Occasionally Spits Up On It
Chug Chug Chug! Plus Ça Change, Plus C’est La Même Chose
What Happened To My Life?
When Flirting Goes Wrong
You’re Damn Right You Don’t Wear A Suit When You Empty The Diaper Genie. I Live In Eternal Fear Of Those Bags Ripping Open Mid-Haul
From Cannibalistic To Cuddly. From Gory To Goofy.. From Zombies To Furries!
Now That They’ve Got Two Kids, That Sign He’s Flashing Is As Close As They’re Gonna Get To Any Actual Peace
I Honestly Can’t Be Sure His Kids Aren’t Responsible For Both Looks
Something Old On The Left, Something New On The Right, And She’s Got Something Borrowed And Something Blue Right In The Middle Of Her Forehead! Thanks Kids!
Don’t Mind Me, Sleeping Beauty. You’re Just Hogging My Bed That I Paid For You Ungrateful Freeloader. No, You’re Bitter!
The Kid Is Just Taunting His Dad: “Oh You Used To Play? That’s Cute. I’m The Drummer Now.”
From A Glamorous Golden Glow To A Total Shitshow
From A Drink As Big As Her Head To A Head Bigger Than Her Thing. I Don’t Even Know Know Which Hurt More On The Way Out
From Baseball To Wrestling
From Charlie’s Angel To Toddler’s Desktop
She Used To Take The Bull By The Horns, Now She’s Just Got Crabs
From Road Rage To Carpools, Er, Bikepools?
They Went From Trying To Catch A Buzz At Disney World To Buzz Almost Needing To Catch Their Kid!
Omg This Dog Has Been Through Hell. Welcome To The Party, Pup!
From Totally Put Together To Totally Passed Out
Her Saturdays Got Toddlered. The Good News Is She’ll Feel Hungover On Sunday Whether She Drinks Or Not! Yay Kids!
I’m Not Entirely Sure What He’s Waiting For In The First Pic But I Know He Wants Know Part Of What He Got In The Second One!
From Oktoberfest To Wrestlemania!
He Went From King Of The World To Dazed And Confused
They Used To Be The Stars, Now They’re Background Players
One Of These Smiles May Be Less Joyful Than The Other. No Judgment!
I Can’t Be Positive They’re Wearing Costumes On The Left, But I’m Gonna Give Them The B Of The D On That One. Either Way, The Outfits On The Right Are A Lot Scarier!
I Wonder Which Accessory Is Louder. (No I Don’t.)
Who’s Got Two Thumbs And Can’t Wear Inappropriate Shirts Anymore?
From Raftin’ And Relaxin’ To Pretending She’s Not Watching That Kid Like A Hawk In Case She Falls Off
From Cinco De Mayo To Sick Of My Life-O (This Would Be Funnier If They Weren’t So Happy In The After Pic. Also, Who Wears A Hockey Jersey To Cinco De Mayo?! Get It Together, White People!)
Ah, good, another post detailing why having kids is a really bad idea. Thank you, BP! I will pass :)
I love the monsters to bits, but if you know you don't want them then It's best not to have them.
Load More Replies...There is a ink below each of the pictures (at least now, not sure whether it always was there).
Load More Replies...Just like how raising a young animal can be hard but with the proper guidance they grow up to be quite well-behaved. And you get to see what funny little quirks they develop along the way.
Load More Replies...Last photos of me without kids was as a teenager. Fell pregnant with my first child at the age of 19.
Congratulations, I would've freaked out if I got pregnant at that age. <3 (though I am freaking out now nevertheless 😂)
Load More Replies...Oh god. I have a niece, who is only 9 months old, and she is nothing like any of these photos. She barely cries and smiles a lot. She is also very cute, and very well behaved. The only problem is that she doesn't like going in the car.
Is it me, or these parential posts are alwys enlights just the negative sides of parenthood?
Don’t let them get to you. It’s not their business or life.
Load More Replies...That's 140 (before shortening, which will occur) reasons why I'm not having kids :)
Really? Only a few of these look bad, and none of them show the worst of it. Don’t have kids if you don’t want them, but most of this seems pro kid in a good humored way.
Load More Replies...Not one of these looks like an improvement. It's been proven that kids do not make things better, parents just delude themselves to cope with their choices. You can argue all you want to but studies have proven these to be facts time and time again.
I loved captions on most of these, also pics. That's why I am not getting any pics taken of me whatsoever until all of them grow up a bit xD
Yup. Still not sold on having kids. I'm glad that (most) of these parents seem happy, though!
Ah, good, another post detailing why having kids is a really bad idea. Thank you, BP! I will pass :)
I love the monsters to bits, but if you know you don't want them then It's best not to have them.
Load More Replies...There is a ink below each of the pictures (at least now, not sure whether it always was there).
Load More Replies...Just like how raising a young animal can be hard but with the proper guidance they grow up to be quite well-behaved. And you get to see what funny little quirks they develop along the way.
Load More Replies...Last photos of me without kids was as a teenager. Fell pregnant with my first child at the age of 19.
Congratulations, I would've freaked out if I got pregnant at that age. <3 (though I am freaking out now nevertheless 😂)
Load More Replies...Oh god. I have a niece, who is only 9 months old, and she is nothing like any of these photos. She barely cries and smiles a lot. She is also very cute, and very well behaved. The only problem is that she doesn't like going in the car.
Is it me, or these parential posts are alwys enlights just the negative sides of parenthood?
Don’t let them get to you. It’s not their business or life.
Load More Replies...That's 140 (before shortening, which will occur) reasons why I'm not having kids :)
Really? Only a few of these look bad, and none of them show the worst of it. Don’t have kids if you don’t want them, but most of this seems pro kid in a good humored way.
Load More Replies...Not one of these looks like an improvement. It's been proven that kids do not make things better, parents just delude themselves to cope with their choices. You can argue all you want to but studies have proven these to be facts time and time again.
I loved captions on most of these, also pics. That's why I am not getting any pics taken of me whatsoever until all of them grow up a bit xD
Yup. Still not sold on having kids. I'm glad that (most) of these parents seem happy, though!