Things I Don't Miss

I find myself saying things often that start with, "Remember back before we had kids..." and usually end with things like, "and we could sleep in," or "and I could get ready in peace," or similar sentiments. So today, in an effort to reframe my thinking, I decided to think about the things I don't miss from the "pre-J&B days." Here's a few:

• Hangovers (OK, I still have them now and then, but much less often!)
• Spending hours cleaning - I used to be a clean freak; now I am still a freak, I just don't have the time to spend cleaning!
• Hearing people say, "You'll understand when you have kids..." (Although now, I know exactly what they were talking about!)
• Not having a good excuse for skipping stuff we don't want to go to (well, the kids haven't been feeling good, or that's right at nap time, etc.)

What I really thought about when making this list, was all the things that I both miss and don't miss greatly at the same time. The things like coming home to a quiet and empty house. While I would love some quiet solitude, I also love to get my kids home and see their smiling faces after a day at work and hear about Jack's day and Brett cooing and babbling. Or being able to just go to bed when I got tired. I would love to not go through a two hour process every night, but at the same time, I love to rock Brett while the lullaby CD plays and hear Jack laughing and reading Truckery Rhymes with his Dad while I pack the bags for the next day. That's the thing with kiddos - you realize that as much as you miss those parts of your life before the craziness and the chaos, I would never want to give up a second of the time with my perfect little monsters (ok - maybe some of the temper tantrums and definitely the poop blow-outs, but everything else...)!