How your time changes after having children

Everyday I think to myself, "today I'll write a post on my blog," but then the day goes by, and the next day comes, and the blog remains without a new post.

Having two children --- and I'm elated to be able to write that -- has restructured the way in which I spend my time.  It is a big change when the first baby arrives.  You have become so accustomed to spending your time one way, and now all of a sudden -- BOOM -- you have to spend your time completely differently.  Hours that used to be spent reading (either in book form, but mostly on the internet for me) are reduced to 15- to 30-minute reading spurts.  Time spent cooking or preparing food has been reduced to a few minutes spent reheating meals in the microwave.  Sleeping in on the weekends and having that extra time with my husband has been relinquished to cries of "Ma-MEE" from my toddler or the cries of our infant.  You learn how to do your housekeeping quicker and more strategically (like picking things up as you move from one room to another).  I've learned to multi-task even more.  (Add to that that I'm also working on my master's degree, and it's even more challenging.  More on that another day.)

I sometimes wonder, "what on earth did I do with all that time before I had children?"  Reflecting on that question, first I was in school and (since engineering is a challenging degree) I spent a lot of hours actually studying.  Then I worked, and when not working I had time to spend going to movies or going out.  (I remember I used to go the mall and window-shop quite a bit.)  Then my career took more time, and I had lots of business trips (all over the world), and on many projects, since they were so intense, I would oftentimes spend 12 or more hours working, and then I'd explore the countryside or the town or city on my time off.  I travelled a lot, domestically and internationally, before children.  I can also remember that I spent a lot of time house cleaning -- what a waste of time that was.  I can keep a house much quicker now.  However, I sometimes think to myself, "man, I could have done something better with my time like volunteer somewhere.  Why did I think that I had no time to do that?"

Then the second baby comes, and since you've already restructured your life, the new baby fits right into the family and into your new time schedule.  So, the second baby is not as big of an adjustment.

So, how do we spend our time now?  We go to playgrounds and parks (both indoor and outdoor), we've gone to nature centers, we go to children's museums, we go to the zoo, we read, we crawl, we run, and we play.  I regularly go through the local, free parenting magazine, and I check to see what interesting events are happening in my area to which we can take the children.  I know more about my local community now and all of the parks and events in it since having children.

It's different.  It's different in a really good way.  The last movie that I saw in a theatre was Cinderella Man, but that's okay, because soon we will all be seeing Cinderella, and I'll be able to experience that magic all over again.  The world as seen through the eyes of a child are a great delight; they see things that I no longer noticed.  They seem to think further outside the box.  It is at times exhausting and I oftentimes yearn for more sleep, but I wouldn't trade those feelings for the absolute joy that I feel because of our children.