Oh The Things I Never Appreciated by Dunja

One of my newly married friends commented the other day that she’d been told she should ‘make the best of her time before she had kids’ (presuming that’s the next step of course!) She said that, in all honesty, she didn’t know exactly what they meant, because most of us struggle to truly appreciate free time. It’s just there! So it got me thinking about the particular things I should have appreciated more before having a kid and I passed on this wise knowledge of mine:

Staying up late

I don’t find the early morning such a drag, after all, we all worked before we had children,didn’t we? But I do struggle with the fact that when I’m out with my single mates, I’m the only one downing energy drinks through the evening just to make it past midnight! And my mates then have the audacity to ask why?! Because, as they say, they work all day and get up early too so why is it so much different with a kid? I just shrug and keep sipping my red bull to suppress a rant about why it’s so very different!

Being sick

And I don’t actually mean getting sick, there’s plenty of that once you have kids! I mean actually being sick. Taking a day or two off work and lying around all day and night, sipping soup and tea and feeling sorry for myself whilst I flip through all 120 TV channels. Not only do I not get that me time now, but my daughter Is bound to catch whatever I’ve got (or more likely gave to me in the first place) and instead I get to run around trying to pacify a screaming little ball of phlegm all day and night. Yey.

Fry ups

Ahhh how much I miss taking an hour to prepare breakfast on a quiet Sunday morning, knowing it’s the only known cure to a raging hangover. These days, I have about a maximum of 10 minutes for preparation, with Ari threatening me the whole time with having biscuits for breakfast instead cause she just can’t wait!

Having the projector full blast in the evenings

After Ari goes down, there’s a limbo period of about an hour when noise must be avoided at all costs. Even my dogs are clearly aware of this because they know even a quite growl will make me want to bite their cute little heads off! After the hour is up and not a sound can be heard from the nursery, I know I’m in the clear. I used to then recline on the couch as close to the speakers as possible and watch TV of my enormous projector screen. Well that didn’t last long. I have since turned my spare room, all the way on the other side of the house, into a makeshift living room, watching movies off a computer as loud as I desire, rendering my spacious and comfortable living room useless.

Eating junk food

You don’t fully realise your own faults until you have to impart healthy habits on your kids. Eating junk is just one of many. Others may include anything from swearing, staring at the phone for hours, leaving clothes on the floor, biting your nails, watching too much TV, shouting, and the list goes on and on!

Heels during the day

The last time I wore heels whilst hanging out with Ari during the day, I ended up crying with joy by midday as I walked out of a shop with my new pair of Hawaiians (as if I didn’t have enough at home!). Walking around in heels all day is enough of a challenge as is, but try doing it with a toddler on your shoulders and a back pack whilst pushing a pram!

My ‘going out’ friends

I’ve heard a lot of people complain about this once they have a family. And I’m not saying I don’t appreciate the friends who have stuck around, cause I do, they’re the loyal, down to earth bunch I always liked hanging out with the most anyway. But every now and again, it’s nice to get an invite from the ‘party’ friends to some new club or gig. Though if I’m honest to myself, they would just be the same people pestering me about existing on red bull!

Just about every electronic appliance

I miss my phone, my iPad, my electric toothbrush, my TV, and even my printer which always seems to be lacking paper (hmm, wander where the paper went!). All my treasured electrical appliances now belong, first and foremost, to my daughter. Whenever I pick one up, even for a second, she appears out of nowhere with the sweetest little smile she can muster, puts her hand out and says ‘peeeess! I’d offer up my life when she asks like that, let alone my phone!