I don’t remember what it was like to…
…only have to get myself out of the house in the morning.
…eat an uninterrupted meal, and not have to wipe someone’s
butt and not come back to a cold meal.
…fall into a deep sleep where my subconscious wasn’t
listening for the slightest deep breath, cry or whimper.
…focus on one task at work without thinking about what some
other little person was simultaneously doing.
…have a perpetually exploded toy bin in every room of the
house.
…not worry if the floor would creak, thus waking up a child and ultimately making me lose sleep.
…not think about the mechanics of a door knob that would make it click and also thus waking up a child.
…read a book uninterrupted.
…prepare a meal without worrying if some little person would like it or not, and if not, then have some mac & cheese on hand at. all. times.
…go out with my husband and enjoy each other’s company and just “be”.
…leave the house and not think about if I had a beverage (don’t even get me started on whether it was the right kind of beverage), enough
snacks and a spare change of clothes from head to toe.
…not worry where the next bathroom is located and if I knew
the shortest and/or quickest way to get there.
…take a nap in the middle of a Sunday afternoon after having
eaten wings and watched football.
…sit on the potty and not worry about barger-inners and the
subsequent “Pee—you mommy, you make stinkers?” comment that would follow.
…just call a toilet, a “toilet” and not a “potty”.
…walk through a children’s section of any store and not buy a single thing.
…not worry what the next intrusive awkward question about
body parts would be when I was trying to get dressed.
…be able to sit in the pew in church and actually hear the
words that were spoken.
…not worry if the choice I made was the best possible “parenting”
choice.
…not be someone’s all.
And I’m ok with not remembering these things. The rewards I receive in return for not remembering these things are plenty. There are no bounds to a child’s love, except for maybe a full on throw-self-on-floor-temper-tantrum, but BESIDE THAT, no bounds! And THAT love makes it 1000% worth while.
If you are also a parent, or even someone who is close to kids in some way, what is it that you can’t remember
what it was like to _____________?
I do remember all of these things…vaguely and fondly. I remember lying in bed on Saturday morning – just lounging and thinking about what I might do that day. Chatting with my husband after work about our days w/o a little person interrupting. I remember just deciding “Hey, let’s go to a movie” and doing that w/ no further thought. I also remember being able to decide to leave the house and having to do nothing more than locate my shoes and purse and then getting in the car and leaving – that simple.
Hi! It’s me sa_scully! Yes, I’ve given up twitter; likely forever. It stressed me out.
And… reading what it’s like to be a mom stresses me out, too! We keep saying we want to have kids. Maybe even 3 or 4. But maybe we really don’t!
…go to the supermarket and just get what I WANT.
…have breakfast in bed prepared by my husband, not my children…though that is a bonus.
…go to a movie that was not rated PG or G.
…spend money on clothes for ME instead of worrying about how I am going to pay for the umpteen million pairs of shoes they need.
And I wouldn’t trade them for ANYTHING!!!!!!