10 Ways That Life Has Changed Since Having A Baby

1. Before I do anything else each month, I hand daycare a check for approximately one-third of my gross wages. I seriously had absolutely no idea how much decent childcare costs. I must’ve been living under a rock or something because it never really occurred to me that this would become our new normal.
2. Prior to getting pregnant, I had a craft habit that could rival anyone’s. I spent completely asinine amounts of money on paint and pretty paper. Looking back, that was my outlet. These days, I’ve taken to much less expensive hobbies like writing. Besides, I have enough art supplies to last me a lifetime. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.
3. These days, I function on “mama time”. My schedule is dictated by the little guy. If he’s up, I’m up – it doesn’t seem to matter whether the rest of the world is sleeping or not.
4. If I have something that I need to do, I first have to figure out how to amuse him long enough that he’ll let me get it done. Needless to say, we have at least a few toys in just about every room of the house.
5. I’ve added an extra hour to my commute each day. Between dropping him off and unpacking everything and picking him up and gathering all of his things, it takes an extra hour to get to and from work. It’s one of those necessary evils, I suppose. He needs at least one of everything at home and the same at daycare.
6. Instead of singing country songs, I find myself singing nursery rhymes. Not that I can even sing, but whatever it takes, right? I obviously have absolutely no intention of giving up my day job.
7. I’m much more likely to eat yogurt, pudding, or applesauce for a snack these days because they’re things that we can share. So long and farewell to my beloved nachos and cheese.
8. I no longer buy anything for myself. Instead, I buy everything for him and I do without. See #2 – When it’s all said and done, at least one of us gets what we want.
9. Getting to work on time every day has become even more difficult than it already was. It seems as if on the mornings that I’m already running late, I end up with some sort of mess to clean up. On the mornings that I would’ve been on time, things take just a little bit longer than they normally do any other day.
10. I’ve become much more protective than what I was before I had him. My favorite phrase is, no doubt, “because I’m the mama” – my own personal spin-off of “because I said so.”

Have you noticed ways that life has changed since having a baby that didn’t make my list? Share them in the comments.

Written by: Cristi Wuenschel