Shannon Ralph waxes poetic on life before kids. She would not be that person again, but she advises parents-to-be to relish these 30 things, before they are gone. And they will be SO gone, gone. —

Dear Parents-to-Be,

You have no idea—NO IDEA—what you are getting into.

I am thrilled to be a mother. Really, I am. My three darling children cause me—in addition to the rare headache and occasional string of obscenities—boundless degrees of happiness and immense pride. I love being “mommy.” I can’t get enough hugs and kisses, despite the excessive mucous that sometimes accompany them. I adore the idea of molding these little beings into contributing members of society. It’s a challenge I relish.

Despite being madly in love with motherhood, I can’t help waxing poetic on occasion about my pre-child days. If anyone tries to tell you that your life will be the same after children as it is before, they are lying to you. Plain and simple.

Honestly, everything changes. Everything. From the way you look to the way you think to the way you interact with the world around you. Every decision you make from where you work to where you live to what you eat for breakfast has ramifications beyond yourself. Everything has a deeper, more nuanced meaning.

The crazy thing is that you don’t run from this new life screaming in terror, as you would expect to do when your entire existence is upended. Rather, you embrace it. You come to love it. Sure, you are occasionally nostalgic for the person you were before those little people took over your life, but you would not go back. You can’t imagine ever being that person again.

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Before this happens to you—before your life is muddled in this dreadfully lovely way—I have some advice for you parents-to-be. My advice to you is simple. While you are still able, and still willing, do the following. Every. Single. Day. Soak in the joy of these 30 simple life pleasures while you can, because the below list of activities will soon disappear from your vocabulary, not to return for many, many years.

1. Go to a movie in the middle of the day

2. Play rap music in your car

3. East at a restaurant without chicken nuggets on the menu

4. Take a nap on an airplane.

5. Stay out past 9pm

6. Get out the door quickly

7. Use your own iPhone, iPad, or other handheld mobile device

8. Cough without wetting your pants

9. Use the word “fuck” leisurely in your own home

10. Leave the house with only what you have in your coat pockets

11. Wear dangly earrings

12. Get in and out of your car without breaking out in a sweat…in the dead of winter

13. Read a book

14. Enjoy a 9-5 work schedule (parents work 24/7/365)

15. Have sex at night

16. Have sex in the morning

17. Have sex

18. Enjoy the freedom that comes with monitoring no one’s bowel movements but your own

19. Have childless friends

20. Eat cookies right out in the open as if it is NOT illegal contraband

21. Use the entire coverage of an umbrella

22. Be sick. Like stay-in-bed-all-day-eating-chicken-soup-binging-on-Sudafed-throwing-dirty-tissues-on-the-floor sick.

23. Watch what YOU want on television

24. Wear white

25. Pee with the bathroom door closed

26. Spend a weekend binge-watching your favorite show

27. Feel confident in the belief that you will never turn into your parents.

28. Enjoy an existence that does not revolve around bodily fluids

29. Complete your grocery shopping in fewer than 120 minutes

30. Relish that you are not—unless you chose it as your career path—anyone’s incubator, chauffeur, chef, personal assistant, entertainment committee, bouncer, tutor, counselor, nurse, or maid.

I am confident that one day I will flagrantly wear white. One day I will nap on an airplane. I will snore and drool. One day I will stay up long enough to watch the entire broadcast of the Golden Globes. One day —

Until that day comes, I will live vicariously through you. You unsuspecting, wonderfully naïve parents-to-be. One day you will be me.

And you will love it as much as I do.

Sincerely,

A Mom

Originally appeared on The Next Family.



Photo: Flickr/Tom Adamcyzk