Advice - the good, the bad and the ugly

I heard it again the other day. A new Mum saying "why didn't anyone tell me it was going to be like this?"
You get loads of advice before you have a baby, but it seems not much that gives you any indication of what life is really going to be like.
I know it's hard to do that, because nothing can ever totally prepare you for it.
Most people told us things like "get all the sleep you can now", "see all the movies you can now", "the first six weeks are hell" (ahem, try the first 3 months!).
But there wasn't much in the way of really constructive advice.
Here's what I tell first-time parents I meet now (only because I wish someone had've told me!):
1. Have your partner at home for as long as possible. A few days just doesn't cut it. Try for a month at least, but even longer is better.
2. Cook loads of meals and freeze them. This was the single smartest thing we did. For the first month, we wouldn't have eaten a lot of nights if it wasn't for the stacks of frozen lasagnes stashed in our freezer.
3. Get everything unpacked and ready in the baby's room. I mean everything - nappies out and stacked, cot with sheets on it, everything!
4. Read books if you want to - but not too many. Read 3 books and you'll get three different sets of advice that will just tie you up in knots. If you must buy one or two, I suggest Baby Love and Kidwrangling.
5. Go with your instinct. If the Maternal Health Nurse is telling you to wake your baby every 3 hours for feeds but you know it doesn't feel right, then don't do it. Midwives and health nurses just tell you the standard rules that supposedly fit every baby. Not all babies are the same.
6. Have at least one other newish mum you can talk to on a regular basis. Just knowing that someone is going through what you're going through and that it's normal is a lifesaver.
7. You will feel confused, frustrated, angry, tired, lost. You will cry. This is all normal.
8. We're all just muddling through. That's basically the bottom line of parenting. No one is an expert. We're all just doing our best to get through the day. Don't think the other women in your mothers' group, or the mums in your supermarket are breezing through it all. They're not.
9. Bad days will always end, eventually.
10. SPEND SOME TIME WITH A BABY. I can't stress this enough. And don't just visit your friend with a baby for an hour. Ask them if you can spend a whole day. I'm not kidding. This is the only way you'll get any idea what life will be like. I can't believe so much emphasis is placed on parents-to-be attending prenatal classes about childbirth and labour, yet virtually nothing is taught about basic baby care.