Wednesday, September 14, 2011

It's Not All Doom and Gloom

When I am feeling on the low side each month, usually around that time when I find out again that I am not pregnant, again, I try to remind myself about the positives. Other people like to remind me of the things I should enjoy while I don’t have children (mainly sleep). So I am taking their lead and writing my own list.

1) I get to sleep in. While mothers all over the world complain about their 5am wake up calls I am still sleeping. In fact, I am taking advantage of this and sleeping in until 11am. I love sleep! Don’t hate me because I am well rested (insert evil laugh here).

2) I stay up late because I want to. While we are on the subject of 5am wake up calls, sometimes that is when I go to bed. Trust me, this is a very rare occurrence because, as we just discovered, I love sleeping, but I can do it if I want to.

3) I get to eat any of the food in my house by myself. With a picky husband who only eats pop tarts, chicken patties and Raman noodles (all things I do not eat) everything in my pantry and refrigerator is mine. I don’t have to share it with anyone.

4) I don’t have to eat half eaten, slobbery scraps left behind by the masters, I mean kids. (see #3)

5) My house is fairly clean, or as clean as I need it to be, without a toy in site.

6) I can stay late at a friend’s house without worrying about getting home to pay the babysitter.

7) I can decide last minute that I want to go out with my friends without having to make any plans.

8) I spend hours on my hobbies without distractions (if you don’t count the cat trying to lay on my keyboard while I am typing).

9) I sit on airplanes and read books. No little kids to keep entertained for fear of upsetting the other passengers.

10) I can take trips all over the world. Most of these trips have been for school and are just in the US, but we plan on going to India this winter.

Now before you start getting all resentful of my wonderful childfree life you should know that I would give every last one of these up for a chance at being a mother, but today I needed a little pick me up.


Did I miss something? What else should I try to enjoy before a baby comes along. (This is not a trick, I really do want to know)


50mm f/1.4 Vintage Honey Action

7 comments:

Burgh Baby said...

1. Being able to stop and photograph something whenever you want.

2. The Dora-free life.

3. Having the TV on whatever channel you want whenever you want to.

4. Being able to have actual conversations with your spouse.

5. SLEEP. OMG SLEEEEEEP.

:-)

S.Wells said...

Children-free dinners. Ahh....

The things you need to go to are things that you want to go to, not things that your kid needs to go to.

If you forget something, it only affects you, not the little people who depend on you.

If you want to eat ice cream for dinner, no one will ask why you are allowed to eat ice cream for dinner but they aren't.

Everything you do is not under constant surveillance. And you aren't in constant surveillance mode, either.

You don't ever get pooped or peed or spit up on.

You can hand a crying baby back to its mother.

But I totally hear you... :) <3

p. said...

Oh, let me enumearate... All of the above and:

Being able to eat dinner with your husband, or tv, or just at a dinner table in general. Or just have time to cook, period.

Not cleaning up poop, pee, spit-up, or other body fluids from the random-est places (how DID he manage to projectile poop half way up a door 5 feet from the changing table?!)

Sleeping in more than 2 hour increments (on a good night).

Naps! For your, not the frantic, activity filled catch-up on anything time that children's naps are.

Never having to watch your kid get stabbed with a needle, cry from pain, or be sick in general.

Not sitting up at night, waiting for that next cry you know is coming that means you will be up for the next hour (at least) trying to get the kid back to sleep.

Alternately, not sitting up at night worrying if the baby is alive because there hasn't been a peep in hours but not wanting to go in and check coz you may wake them up.

Having uninterrupted conversations longer than 3 minutes.

Doing laundry on a human schedule, not conducting twice-daily cleansing of the collection of items peed / pooped on by your spawn that developed diaper rash that is bloody and you have to give them naked butt time 5 times a day.

Not serving as a human pacifier, since the plastic one is considered evil incarnate by your progeny.

But hang in there. I have high hopes that you too will get to experience poop in your eye and all the other wonders and calamities. Our love to you! Big time. We have our fingers crossed for you.

Anonymous said...

I love not having to drag all the "stuff" everywhere we go. Like diaper bags, extra stuff "just in case".

Anonymous said...

It's a tough one... I'll only start with the beginning (there is so much to tell),
It's the actual birth that kills. Ouch! Not to mention being pregnant. long! What I had trouble with was.... I gave birth but did anyone care how I was? It was 'cute baby this and cute baby that' not well done mom.
Then the hospital bill, for all the doctor did?! He stood there and caught the baby then handed it over to the nurses and walked out. Well done, sir! Perhaps he could help push a little next time!
That's enough for now... this has turned out to become a very negative post! My apologies!

Kim said...

Thanks guys.

Sarah, I am really going to miss eating ice cream for dinner. In fact, I enjoyed that one tonight.

P, I love naps. Thank you for your thoughts.

Anonymous, don't worry, I am so very scared of giving birth. Although, I hear your brain somehow forgets about the pain and you suddenly want to do it again.

Anonymous said...

You can take a 2 minute pee (or poop) without having 30 little fingers sticking cars, paper, books, money, etc., under the bathroom door or hearing "moooommmmm, are you done yet????"
Love you Kim. No one (besides maybe you and Derek) wants you to be a mommy more, I just can't wait for it to happen and I pray for you guys all the time.
DD