Guest post: Maybe Next Year

While I'm on a business trip (cue violins -- I'm on the gulf coast of Florida), I'm leaving this space in the hands of some bloggers who may be new to you.

Keeping my chair warm today is Terra from The Emerson Family. You may remember her as a finalist in the Limerick Chick Contest.

Terra blogs as a way to chronicle her days of motherhood and she hopes it will be something her two young daughters will refer to for guidance and remembrance. She also reviews books with lots of giveaways at Tales from the Nightstand.

Alert: this post is about motherhood.
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I used to take for granted...My love for music -- until I had to listen to my kids' CDs all day and into the night.

Now one of my favorite times of the week is the car trip from my daughter's school to my house when I am ALONE in my car with MY music as loud as it will go.

I used to take for granted...The time after dinner in my home, often spent with friends in the neighborhood, watching CSI with my husband.

Now I relish the moments after the girls are both in bed and I head to my own bed to curl up with my Kindle and read. Friends what friends? Maybe next year.

I used to take for granted...waking up whenever my internal clock woke me, jumping in the shower and starting my day at my own pace.

Now I wake at the first sign of internal wakefulness be it 4 am or 6 am -- rush to get my diet soda, potty without flushing (so as to not wake anyone) and jump on my computer to grab a few minutes of peace and quiet before the girls wake...if I am not in the shower by 6am, no shower for me but I won't get in before 6 because I risk waking said girls. So I relish my time in Beaver Creek with family - where the days are slower and the nights are longer and more often than not I get quiet time with ME in the mornings and I long for the days when the girls consistently sleep past 6am each and every day and I dread the days when I have to literally DRAG them out of bed by 9 because sleeping to late is never a good habit.

I used to take for granted… the fact that I could eat anything I wanted anytime I wanted and my clothes would always fit.

Now, after kid number 2, I still eat whatever I want – whenever I want and my clothes still fit, just not the same. Can you say EXERCISE anyone? Maybe next year.

I used to take for granted…my own parents and the hard work and devotion they put into raising my brother and me.

Now I know that when you’re a kid you really have NO IDEA. And I am not sure it even sets in until your kids are school age and your commitment level changes to from being the doting loving at home mom to the mom that has to shower, present her children to the public each and every day, face challenges with schools, sports, friends and so much more right alongside your own children. It is the sleepless nights, the wondering if you are “doing it right” those are all things you just can’t get until you do it yourself. And the worst part about that is watching your own children “not get it” and knowing it will be 20 years before they do.

I have a feeling I could take this list and run it into the ground…the bottom line is I love being a wife, a mother and whatever else I may be, I would not trade it for the world – I try hard to appreciate all that I have now and have to look forward to all that lies ahead (I think).

Now if only I could muster up the energy to invite friends over more often, get my girls to love the music that love, sleep until I want them to wake up, exercise in my sleep and find the magic key that would make all kids truly appreciate everything that is done for them.

Maybe next year.