January 8, 2010

Things I miss about my life before kids



Sure I love my life as a mommy and my children but I can't lie and say there aren't things I don't miss about my life before them. Here are some:



SLEEPING - Oh how I miss sleep. I have always loved to sleep and barely remember the times when sleeping 8-10 hours (in a row!) a night  was the norm. I'd be lucky to get that in 2 or 3 nights these days. Is it a wonder that I'm more bitchy these days.



EATING OUT - I use to eat out at restaurants on a daily basis. You know the ones that have white fabric tablecloths and wine glasses are already pre-set on tables. We still occasionally go out to dinner or lunch with the kids but it's not quite the same.  We stick to family-friendly restaurants that usually have paper for the kids to draw on instead of tablecloths. Usually eat really quickly before one of the kids starts getting antsy or cranky. Usually it's buffets so one of the kids don't start crying they don't like their food after waiting 20 + minutes for it. The hostesses almost always seats us in the back of the restaurant away from childless  patrons.   Eating out does give me a break from cooking but sometimes the effort of getting 3 kids out is such a pain that I'd rather just stay home and cook myself or do the drive-thru.





ROAD TRIPS - My husband and I use to be very spontaneous. A last minute decision to drive up north or leave the country was normal. We'd just leave and pick up a couple of toothbrushes on the way. We sometimes had no destination and just drive till we'd find some place that looked fun to stay. A day trip these days needs to be planned days before and enough packing you'd think we were leaving for a month. Not to mention a whole days worth of unpacking and laundry afterwards.



FREE TIME - Once upon a time I use to have lots of moments of boredom. I'm not sure what that words means these days but I do hear it often. It goes something like this .... "Mommy I'm booooored!".  I once had time for hobbies and a pedicure happened on a weekly basis now it needs to be planned months in advance and happens more like on a annual basis instead.



HAVING A SICK DAY - Not that I like being sick but these days calling in sick to work (for myself) means more work at home. I usually call in sick when my children are sick so really if I were to be sick, I'd be out of sick days anyways. Plus you can't call in sick from your kids so being sick does not mean less house work or child care. Most of the time when I'm sick, the kids and husband are sick too so it's more work taking care of them instead of myself. I wish I can take a "Benadryl Day". 



Although I miss those days sometimes, I wouldn't trade my current life for the world. After all no one said having children was easy....especially for a mom.




4 comments:

Thea said...

I completely relate to and agree with everything in this post!! :)

Anonymous said...

oh yes! all that... ditto :)

Aly said...

Me and my hubby went out for the day last summer for our wedding anniversary.The first 3 hours were lovely.We had a grown up meal with alcohol.We went for a walk around a pretty country village taking photos of ourselves.Then we were bored.We visited shops.Still bored.So we got a taxi back 3 hours early because we just didn't know how to be with each other without the kids.We have evenings in front of the telly or he'll be on the Wii while I'm on-line but we never go out together that often.I also have 3 kids and not that many family members are willing to take them for a few hours.I hope you and your husband find time together soon.

joamur said...

Joanna - I love your blog. It was so nice to meet you tonight. Thanks for telling me about your blog - I wish this type of sharing existed when my four boys were young.
The one thing about parenthood is we need to cherish every single moment, before you know it they are grown up. But there is a great side to that - often you become a grandparent. Seeing your children as parents makes you realize just what a good job you have done - my husband and I are constantly amazed at what wonderful husbands, fathers and uncles our sons have become...somehow all those years of sleep deprivation and all the other unfortunate moments of parenthood have evaporated and all that is left is WONDERFUL memories. Thank goodness for a selective memory.
Good luck to you in all you do and I will check back from time to time.

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