Before I became a mom, I had so many thoughts/expectations of what I would be like as a mom. And honestly opinions/judgements towards other moms (so sorry). But now, I am a mom. And all I have to say is I GET IT. It all makes sense. And I would like to admit to you the things I said I’d never do as a mom (even used to judge other moms for) and now do those very things. Sass me if you want.
1. Have NO plans in a Day and be Okay with it
For real though, I lived my non mom life on speed 2.0. No time for rest or being bored. I like my schedule back to back to back with plans and activities. But as a mom, my perspective has changed. It feels like that lifestyle isn’t really possible now (not mad about it). Getting your babe ready to go takes so much longer than I expected. There’s just so many things to remember, and then when you think you’re ready, they poop (ha). My son is 19 months and currently naps anywhere between 2-4 hours during the afternoon, so making afternoon plans is challenging because I just never know how long he’ll sleep!!
Don’t get me wrong, I still love a good plan. I’ve just learned to leave plenty of wiggle room. I don’t feel like I NEED to be going somewhere or hanging out with someone to have a great day. Miles is my plan, and I love it.
2. Nurse In Public
I genuinely thought it was crazy when I saw moms nursing in public – at church, at a park, honestly anywhere. Even with a cover. Now I understand. Babies don’t care where they are or what time it is, they are hungry NOW. And I guess as a mom you have to decide if it’s better to let your babe cry until you find privacy, or just whip out the boob and calm them down. I choose the latter (which is probably the one of the biggest things I said I’d never do, eeep).
3. Let Baby’s Sleep Affect My Schedule
I was always so non sympathetic towards my friends who couldn’t hang or would leave early because their babes needed to nap/sleep at a certain time. Now I understand. Babies need sleep.
I like to say we have a flexible schedule. We love hanging out with friends and do try to adjust our schedule to make it work. Miles is totally fine to nap sometime between 12-1, and then go to bed sometime between 7:30-9. He just isn’t his BEST self when he misses a nap or goes to bed super late. At a young age we had him sleep in multiple different arrangements – in his crib, in a pack n play, at gramma and papa’s, so he is flexible in where he falls asleep, thankfully.
4. Ride in the Back Seat
I actually never knew this was a thing, but now I notice other mom’s doing it all the time. My husband, Nick, has become our chauffeur. It just feels like Miles is always needing something while we’re driving, so it’s just convenient to already be sitting back there with him. Also, I feel bad making him sit in the back by himself, especially for long drives. I do miss sitting shotgun with Nick, but he’s in full support. We both realize it’s only temporary.
5. Talk About my Kids
I was a part of a Bible study with singles, engaged and married women, and moms. And the moms ALWAYS talked about their kids. It never failed. I was always down to chat about them for 5-10 minutes, but then I was ready to move on to the next topic. (While they definitely weren’t). There were so many other things to talk about right? But now. Now. I don’t think I ever leave a conversation without bringing my precious son, Miles. I’m a SAHM so my whole life involves him. And there are so many things to talk about and questions to ask about raising him. What did I ever talk about before?
6. Let my Baby Eat Messy
I love clean. I do not like when the house is messy. I would prefer it to look like no one lives there (lol). But more than that, I want Miles to be a boy and have a good relationship with food. For his first 6 months of eating he pretty much always ate with his shirt off and got a mini bath after. I let him do his thing while he ate (verses trying to control/clean up every bite) and just cleaned him up after.
He doesn’t need a bath after every meal now (praise), but still is quite messy. Learning to eat with a fork/spoon is hard! But I do believe it will be so worth it when he’s fully feeding himself, loves food, AND is clean(ish).
7. Go More than 3 Days WITHOUT Taking a Shower
At this point, taking a shower is just inconvenient haha. I sponge bath way too often. Don’t get me wrong, I love to feel clean. But Miles often wants to shower with me when he’s awake (which we definitely do, but sometimes ain’t nobody got time), and there’s too many other things I want to do during naptime to shower. Judge me if you want.
8. Have a Hard Time Saying No
I thought it would be easier to discipline/say no. Right and wrong are obvious and I want to teach my kids that (I said). Obviously they need to listen to mom and can’t hit other kids, right?? But sometimes they “don’t understand” or they aren’t actually “hitting” they’re playing, am I right? It feels harder to decipher than I thought. I think I’m over complicating it. Because there very much is a right and wrong. I blame myself. I just want to be the yes mom and I make more excuses for Miles than I expected I would.
9. Lick my Finger and Wipe Baby’s Face
I’ve seen soooo many moms do this. And kind of cringed. It’s one of the big things I said I’d never do. But what’s worse? Having your babe walk around with food on his face, or using a little spit to get it off? Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
10. Let my Kids’ Friends Affect who I Hangout with
Miles is only 19 months, but has a couple of kids you can already tell he loves to hangout with. I thankfully already love their moms (that’s how he met their babes). But I will say, it makes hanging out with them even more fun and important to me since Miles loves their kids so much. The whole day is just more fun when I know Miles is going to enjoy our time too.
11. Be Okay with Backwash in my Water
This is gross, right? Meh. I have zero issue sharing my drink with Miles. And yes, I have found a couple unknown food chunks in there. But I’ve been surprisingly fine with it. I mean, he was in my stomach for 9 months and we shared all the same food then, so it doesn’t feel THAT crazy to me.
12. Go to Bed BEFORE 10 pm
Maybe this is more of a pregnancy thing, but I love crawling into bed at 9 (or even 8:30), reading my book, and falling asleep early. As a mom I have a whole new appreciation for sleep. And when I get the chance to sleep a little extra, I’ll take it. I still haven’t figured out napping (trust me I try), but going to bed early is doing it for me. Before I became a mom, going to bed before 10 pm felt like a waste of my day. But no longer haha.
Things I Said I’d Never Do – Do You Agree?
Okay there you have it. Things I said I’d never do as a mom and here I am, doing them. I’m sure there are more I can’t even remember too. I’d love to hear YOUR thoughts on all of these! Do you relate to any of them? What’s on your list of “things I said I’d never do as a mom” but now you do them? Tell me everything!!
Here are a few more posts you’ll love!
11 Ways To Make Money As A Stay At Home Mom
