Every parent knows the feeling of scrolling back through old photos and barely recognising the well-rested, dressed-up person in them. Brooklyn dad and blogger Mike Julianelle turned that feeling into a running joke. After posting a before-and-after picture of his own life before and after kids, he invited other parents to send theirs, and the submissions poured in. The collection became known as "Got Toddlered", and the pairs below are some of the funniest.
The format is simple: on the left, the carefree years of parties, travel and gym selfies; on the right, life with small children, complete with spit-up, sticker-covered faces and naps wherever possible. Below you will find 30 pairs, a little background on the man behind them, and why these photos land so well with parents.
Who is Mike Julianelle?
Julianelle is the writer behind Dad and Buried, a blog, podcast and social media presence about the less glamorous side of raising children. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two children, and has written an advice column for New York Metro Parents called Ask Dad and Buried. His tone is affectionate but blunt; as he told Fatherly, "I love my kids. I just hate parenting."
According to Fatherly, the idea grew out of a Twitter hashtag game in which people compared photos taken ten years apart. Julianelle reworked his entry into a pre-kids versus post-kids comparison, a follower suggested he collect other people's, and the Got Toddlered account was born. His goal, in his words: "We're all in this together, so we should stop judging each other."
More from him: DadAndBuried.com | Instagram | Facebook
Nights out, then nights in (pairs 1 to 10)
The first pair is a reminder that parents are not the only ones who get toddlered. A grinning yellow Labrador lounging in the sun is later found tucked into its bed under a blanket while a little girl in pyjamas fusses over it.
A young man at a night-time party, red cup in hand, becomes a bearded dad with a smiling baby on his arm. The finishing touch is the pink bow clipped into his hair bun.
A mum who once posed in a fitted black dress now stands in a nursing bra with two breast pumps attached and a mug of coffee in her hand. Her raised middle finger says everything about the 3 a.m. pumping schedule.
A glamorous couple striking poses beside a Christmas tree reappear sprawled on the sofa, both asleep, with their newborn sleeping on mum's chest. Sleep, it turns out, is now taken wherever it can be found.
Wine glass in hand, perched on the edge of a bathtub in a little black dress: that was before. After, her face is squashed beneath a toddler's nappy-clad bottom.
She once rode a camel in front of the pyramids of Giza. These days she is the camel, crawling across the living room floor with two boys on her back.
A party couple throwing rock-and-roll hand signs haven't given up the attitude. They have simply added a toddler with a toy guitar, and all three are sticking their tongues out at the camera.
A moody black-and-white selfie gives way to a dad carrying his daughter on his shoulders while her ice lolly drips all over his head and neck.
Before, a man enjoys a plated restaurant meal and a burger with fries all to himself. After, three small boys in skeleton pyjamas are eating off his plate while he looks on, resigned.
Helpfully dated 2011 and 2017, this pair shows that the glass of red wine survived parenthood. What changed is the two children climbing over her while she drinks it.
Selfies, stickers and sleepy dads (pairs 11 to 20)
The mug of coffee is the one constant here. The tank top and shorts are replaced by pyjama trousers and a baby on the hip, and the cat is now watching from the floor.
A confident selfie in a blue T-shirt, then the same man looking unimpressed while a small hand decorates his face with star stickers.
At a formal party he stood in a suit between two friends. Years later he is in a white vest, holding two daughters, one of them in oversized white sunglasses.
Once a long-haired singer in a leather jacket, gripping the microphone on stage. Now asleep on the bed with a grinning boy lying on top of him and the family cat close by.
A gym mirror selfie showing off a flexed bicep turns into a mirror selfie of a different kind of workout: one child in a front carrier and another on her back.
Halloween before kids meant a police costume. Halloween after means the whole family dresses up, with mum and dad in striped prisoner outfits and their toddler as the officer in charge.
Posing in sunglasses next to a small plane, he looked every inch the adventurer. The after shot finds him asleep, squeezed into a child's red racing-car bed.
A wide, carefree smile is followed by a view from the floor as two babies poke at her eyes and face. It is a scene most parents of twins or close siblings will recognise.
A birthday glass of fizz and a bright dress become a grey T-shirt, a mug of tea and a newborn asleep in the crook of her arm, with the dog firmly claiming her lap.
A sunglasses-and-tank-top rooftop pose contrasts with a bearded dad in glasses wearing a long white stripe of baby spit-up down the front of his T-shirt.
Glamour, gone (pairs 21 to 30)
A dressed-up couple hugging at a party later pose in festive outfits with their two daughters, and the whole family wears the same bewildered expression.
Seated in a red dress at an event, she looked the picture of calm. In the after shot a child has a firm grip on her hair and her face says the rest.
Beach chairs, sunglasses and a lazy day by the water are swapped for a day on a boat with two exhausted children in life jackets asleep on their parents.
A relaxed man with a dark beer, and then the same man sitting patiently while his kids fill his hair with colourful clips.
Party nights with a big bottle in hand were replaced by quiet, tired nights feeding a newborn. It is one of the most honest pairs in the collection.
An elegant black-and-white wedding portrait sits above a Christmas-time scene of the same couple collapsed on a red sofa with two toddlers who seem as tired as their parents.
A confident pose in a black dress and heeled boots, then a close-up with yellow emoji stickers stuck all over her face, courtesy of a child.
Before: drinks in both hands and tongue out at a crowded lake party. After: gently holding a crying baby dressed as a pumpkin.
The party dad with a beer in hand now poses in a child's fabric headband and pink heart-shaped sunglasses, looking straight into the camera with total dignity.
The final pair needs no explanation: a smiling, carefully styled mum before, and afterwards a mock glare, an iced coffee and a T-shirt that reads "Raising tiny humans is exhausting."
Why these photos hit home
The comedy depends on selection. Nobody's life before children was one long party, and nobody's life after is all spit-up and sleep deprivation; each person picked their most polished old photo and their most chaotic new one. Everybody knows that, which is why the pairs feel like a shared wink rather than a complaint. Many of the after shots are also clearly full of love: the kids are on their parents' shoulders, laps and backs.
That is the point Julianelle keeps returning to. Social media often shows parenthood as tidy and picture-perfect, and that can leave real parents feeling they are doing it wrong. Seeing other people laugh at their own exhaustion is a reminder that the mess is normal.
If you want to make your own pair
- Pick a matching theme. The best pairs echo each other: the same pose, the same drink, the same holiday, or the same costume party years apart.
- Keep it kind. The joke is about the situation, not about your children or your partner.
- Think before posting kids' photos. Check privacy settings and consider whether your child will be happy to see the picture online when they are older.
Sources: Fatherly; New York Metro Parents; Dad and Buried. Photos submitted by parents to Mike Julianelle's Got Toddlered collection.
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