With less than 7 weeks to go until the due date of Baby Juanita, I've been thinking lately about the things I did pre-kids. You always hear that having a baby changes everything. While that is correct to a point, you also make your life the way you want it. Majority of the following can still be done after kids but it'll need to be planned in advance along with the paying of a babysitter which is hard to justify for some people. Soo here's my suggested list of things to do before you have kids:
-Get all your daredevil antics out of the way. Go skydiving, swimming with sharks, hunting for alligators, be the pretty lady helping out a knife throwing magician....whatever it is. Do it now! Last thing you want is to kill or seriously hurt yourself now that there's another life completely dependent on you. Luckily for me, I am the completely opposite of a daredevil. Just the thought of swimming where I can't see anything scares me to the core. Leave me to a clean pool, clear ocean where I can see or on a flotation device of some sort and I'm happy. Swimming with dolphins has always intrigued me though and some day I'll have the guts to do it.
-This may not be for all of you out there but if you enjoy sex, do it now! As much as you want and anywhere you want. Just because you can. Once again probably not advice for everyone but please take heed my friends....there will come a day where all you want is to feel not tired, unhurried, uninterrupted or just hoping that someday you'll be in the mood again.
-Spoil yourself with spending. There are times where I'll splurge on a massage (very, VERY sparingly) but for the most part I've become quite the hoarder with money. I used to not think twice about a $120 bill at Old Chicago or going on vacation with the credit card but now all I think about is how much of daycare that would pay for, the cute clothes, accessories, or toys I could buy for my kids, or just getting out of debt in general. This whole money guilt thing has really gotten in the way of anything I used to buy or do for myself.
-Go out to eat! I don't care if it's a nice place that needs reservations or sitting at Old Chicago for 6 hours with appetizers and beer. Oh how I miss our entire Saturdays spent at Old Chicago and Buffalo Wild Wings. Once again we could do this but then my guilty version of responsibility kicks in saying that I don't need to do this anymore because 1) There's no way Lane could sit still for that long and 2) See the previous point about money.
-Spend an entire day on the sofa watching movies or tv reruns and don't feel guilty about it. Another point that I really miss! Mark and I used to spend entire days watching movies. Now our Netflix is full of kids shows...case in point....our top 10 is all cartoons except for a teenage drama TV show for me. I feel like I know all the episodes of Chuck and Friends, Backyardigans, The Cat in the Hat, The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Curious George. Truth be told and please don't share this with anyone else, I actually enjoy sitting and watching these shows with him :)
-Enjoy your friends that don't have kids. It's inevitable and most parents would probably agree. It's not that we don't still love our friends that don't have kids....it's just that it seems like we all of a sudden don't have much in common. They don't understand our inability to do things spur of the moment and we don't understand their ability to drink like we used to. I PROMISE that when they have kids you will see them more and have even more to talk about. Feel incredibly lucky if you have a non-kid friend that takes a genuine interest in your kids and wants to be around them and vice versa.
-Enjoy using the toilet alone. It doesn't matter which end it's coming out of either. The past few days have been the worst for this in our house. I don't know if it was because I spent over 24 hours away from Lane or what but holy cow...the kid seriously had to be on my lap with his face next to mine, hands around my neck while I'm pooping. He was still attached while wiping. Sooo not pleasant and this is something I'm sure he'll love to hear about when he's in middle school. What I wouldn't give to sit on the toilet and not have a kid in there with me or knocking on the door.
-While at a restaurant, at church, on a plane, at the store, wherever you are at. Don't look at the parent with a kid making a scene or running around with hate like they have 2 heads/make nasty comments. I don't care how fantastic you think your kid will act or how you'll say 'I'll never let my kid act like that' because it's inevitable that you WILL have that kid at one point or another. Karma really is a bitch and will come back and bite you in the ass. I can say that because I've been the person on both sides of the fence.
-Go and drink during the day whenever you want. Be it a champagne brunch or tailgating. It's just not enjoyable to drink anymore during the day when you know that there are kids to come home to.
Like I said before, these things can still be done after kids but there is so much more forethought that comes in to play. I absolutely love my life and wouldn't trade my kids for anything. Okay I take that back, I would give birth today if I could get rid of my heartburn and snoring while pregnant that keeps my husband up at night. Anywho, I said before the I've made the decision to put my kids first in multiple ways and currently I'm okay with that 90% of the time. Of course there are times that I think to myself it'd be nice to drink too much without the consequences of the kid hangover or having to pump and dump instead of feeding my child but it's the sacrifice that I've decided to endure. I keep telling myself that my kids will only be little and need me for something other than $20 or a ride to a friends house for a short period of time.
