Are You Putting Off Living Your Life Because Of Your Kids?

What do you think?

This is problematic for several reasons, the least being that a parent's state of mind directly impacts our children.

Being a stay-at-home mother, for me, is both exhausting and demanding. I'll admit to feeling tickles of envy — as well as, sometimes, flat-out irritation — when I see other mothers perform childrearing duties with the apparent ease and, equally, the helping hands that I lack.

My parents visit often, but living two hours away from my husband's family and mine means that I fly solo in my daily life as “mom.”

This means I don't have the ability to toss my kids at grandma's house and hit a yoga class. It means, too, that my husband and I can't have the cutesy “date nights” that I see all over Facebook — not without significant planning, that is.

This all said, I still don't believe that I should be pausing my life completely because I parent young children. More, it means that I shouldn't be waiting for those “someday” years down the road to enjoy my life.

For one, my kids will still need me.

In my own experience with adolescence, this is when life really gets sticky. Yes, life might literally be less sticky for me as my kids get older — since fruit snacks and messy faces will likely be less frequent in terms of our daily routine — but, in all seriousness, I don't plan on my daughters' teenage years being our cushy ones.

You can check out the rest of this article on Huff Post Life Handbook. When you're finished, leave a comment and share your take.