Being a parent

If you wanted to know what it is like being a parent consider the amount of time that I have gone between posts. I know it is a cliche to complain about how much life changes with a child and how you are so busy right now, but the cliche has some truth. Things do change. Life is much busier. It isn't so much that I don't have time to myself, but rather that I don't seem to have long periods of time to devout to something like writing a blog post. I have time, but it is almost always interrupted time. It seems like the second I am able to get comfortable then either L starts crying or I remember something that I need to do.

Anyway, I have some time right now, so let me get down some random thoughts in no particular order.

One thing I have heard over and over again is about how time goes by so quickly. It doesn't. It feels like 38 lifetimes ago that M and I were DINKS living it up in San Antonio on our babymoon. Maybe with more years under my belt I will feel that way, but right now it feels like it has been a long 9 months.

Everyone has baby advice...even and sometimes especially when I am not asking for or in search of any advice. For example L is cosleeping with us. Besides the occasional bad nights (and we are on a bad stretch right now) I don't mind it. If you would have told 25 year old me that I would be in shock, but now that I am actually in that situation it isn't what I thought it would be like. Anyway, I sometimes tell friends or coworkers about that and almost immediately they start to give advice. I know they have the best intentions (or maybe they just like hearing themselves talk), but I don't actually need their advice. M and I are doing what is best for our family and I don't think our decisions really matter one bit to them.

You do learn how to prioritize things better. You also learn that a trip to the grocery store or to work can sometimes feel like a break. It isn't that you necessarily like doing these activities more than you used to, but sometimes it seems necessary to break things up.

One thing I heard from a close coworker in my previous job was that you should enjoy your home because you will spend a lot of time in it once you have a kid. That is 100% true. The days and nights that used to be spent going out to eat or drinking with friends or to attending a sporting event are almost exclusively replaced with staying home, fixing dinner and watching shows on DVR. With that in mind I am glad to still really enjoy our home and our neighborhood. I can sometimes sour on Columbus (I still often miss Minneapolis), but living in Bexley is one big plus.

The final thing I have learned about being is a parent is that it isn't all gloom and doom. I feel like the modern parent (and the modern parent blog) are all about being realistic about the negatives of raising a child. I appreciate their honesty, bluntness and realism, and I certainly find that better than people who turn a blind eye and are just positive about the joys of parenting. However, I find that being a parent is a lot better than my expectations. I will try to get into that more later, but I have a crying baby to take care of right this instant.