When you are not a mom...

I was thinking about the things I do now that are ordinary things that I would never even have considered before I was a mom. Things I know lots of moms can identify with that make childless people shake their heads and think either "Why can she not control her kids better?" or "I can't even imagine". These are the things I was thinking about:

When you are not a mom...

you get to pee all by yourself!

you don't have to go looking for the nail clippers every time you want to use them. They are where you left them.

you don't have to fish packs of gum out of your messy car's tape deck or an upside down music CD out of the Wii.

you don't know the second verse to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

you don't wear shirts with holes in them. You just don't. And you don't spend any time thinking about which holes are less obvious in which shirt.

you don't ask the McDonald's people for a different toy because you already have the one the kids got when they went with Grammy last week.

you don't have whole milk in the refrigerator.

you don't make sure everyone in your house is breathing before you go to bed at night.

you don't think 7:30 is too late to start a movie night.

you don't write a blog so people can follow your life. When you have kids, no one cares about you anyway. They are reading about the kids.

you don't eat and talk about vomit and/or poop at the same time.

you do not think potty training should be an Olympic Endurance Sport.

There are so many more. Those were just my instant thoughts. On the flip side:

When you are not a mom:

you don't know the feeling that comes with random knee hugging

you don't understand the sense of accomplishment when your child triumphs. It's better than when you yourself triumph.

you don't get to spend time watching Sesame Street without having to find an excuse for watching it.

you don't get to go out and have random people compliment you they way they will compliment your children.

you don't get to watch your parents revel in being grandparents.

you don't get to know what it is like to have your heart walking around in a tiny person's body. It doesn't belong to you anymore.

And above all, you simply don't know the kind of love that comes from having kids and you don't know what it is like to be loved just for being Mommy.

There are many people in the world who would give anything to have children. I hope for every one of them that it happens. It is an experience like no other and an awesome privilege. I'm lucky 4 times over in the kid department and I strive every day not to screw it up.

So raise your juice boxes and toast your kids. They make life a daily adventure.