Things I Miss

People don't speak very frequently about the things they miss from before they had kids. It's like they're afraid of being judged so they keep mum. Last night I was in bed thinking about sleep which led me to think of other things I miss from before I was a parent so here's my list.

1. Sleep. I have a feeling that will be on my list for a very long time. Before kids I was a CHAMPION sleeper. I would go to bed at 10pm almost every night and sleep almost 8 hour straight. The only nights I had sleep issues was on the nights my basketball games started at 9pm. Other than that I slept great, I could sleep in on weekends, and could nap whenever I had the time, it was amazing and I daydream about it frequently. Even though my kids now sleep through the night I find I'm the one that wakes at every little sound in the house.

2. The ability to peacefully eat a hot meal in a restaurant. Now when we go to restaurants with kids I usually get about 1/3 of my meal...if I'm lucky. Most of the time the kids tend to have to go to the bathroom about 2 minutes after our food is served. They also need more napkins, more forks, food cut up, etc. Then you spend the rest of the time saying 'turn around and sit down' or 'pay attention and eat your food'. Most food for me is cold but it always seems more annoying when you've paid to eat cold food in a restaurant than when it happens at home.

3. The ability to go out whenever I want. I always hear about people going out for drinks after work, wings after work, meeting for lunch, or going out dancing. I get jealous! I realize this isn't my life anymore but that doesn't mean I can't get jealous that they're having all that fun without me. One of the things I miss the most is going to the movies on the opening weekend. We used to go to movies every week and now we are lucky if we make it there once a quarter. Mainly I just miss that freedom of being able to make a quick decision to go out to these sorts of things without having to say 'I need to check Hubs calendar' or 'I need to see if I can find a babysitter'.

4. Sleep. Oh wait, I already mentioned that.

5. Everything that comes with having a regular job: appreciation, adult conversation, going to the bathroom without someone interrupting me, hot lunch, and recognition for a job well done. 

6. My body. That's all I'm going to say about that.


Having kids is great, I'm not saying it isn't, but there are certainly things I miss and I'm sure there's at least one or two you do as well! What do you miss from before having children?