My, How Things Have Changed
It's been a long weekend. An old friend from law school came to visit from out of state, one who hadn't met P & E yet. She's single and doesn't have any kids, so she's spending this time focusing on 1) her career; and 2) having fun. It was great to see her, but I have to admit, her visit totally stressed me out.
She just didn't understand how much my life has changed since the babies arrived. She still wanted to drink, go out, go shopping, stay up late, go out to eat -- you name it! That's all well and good; those are all things I love to do. Unfortunately, none of them are so easy for me anymore. Whether I have company or not, the babies still need to eat every three hours, still need to nap several times a day, still need to be played with and loved rather than left to swing for hours on end, still will (loudly) voice their displeasure if left in their stroller for too long while I window shop.
And then there were all the things that need to be done around the house. In my normal day, whenever the babies fall asleep at the same time or are otherwise engaged simultaneously, I seize the opportunity to pump, wash bottles, do laundry, pick up toys, etc. I couldn't do that ALL weekend. (Well, I did pump, obviously, but none of the rest of it). In the brief moments when the babies didn't need my attention, she wanted me to be doing something leisurely. (See above list). She didn't get that there is no time for leisure right now. Ugh.
I know it's not her fault. We used to have so much in common, and I guess I'm no better than her as far as failing to realize how different our visions of the weekend would be. She was crazy about P & E, sure, but she didn't want to spend every one of their waking moments with them the way I -- without even realizing it! -- have begun to. I realized I've turned into the beyond-annoying woman I always bitched about in my old blog. You know her: the one who is incapable of doing or talking about anything that doesn't involve her kids. I feel, in some way, as though I've gone over to the dark side.
I'm guessing that as P & E get older and don't need me quite as much that more of the old me will come back, and I'll become interesting again. The question is, will any of my old friends wait around that long?
She just didn't understand how much my life has changed since the babies arrived. She still wanted to drink, go out, go shopping, stay up late, go out to eat -- you name it! That's all well and good; those are all things I love to do. Unfortunately, none of them are so easy for me anymore. Whether I have company or not, the babies still need to eat every three hours, still need to nap several times a day, still need to be played with and loved rather than left to swing for hours on end, still will (loudly) voice their displeasure if left in their stroller for too long while I window shop.
And then there were all the things that need to be done around the house. In my normal day, whenever the babies fall asleep at the same time or are otherwise engaged simultaneously, I seize the opportunity to pump, wash bottles, do laundry, pick up toys, etc. I couldn't do that ALL weekend. (Well, I did pump, obviously, but none of the rest of it). In the brief moments when the babies didn't need my attention, she wanted me to be doing something leisurely. (See above list). She didn't get that there is no time for leisure right now. Ugh.
I know it's not her fault. We used to have so much in common, and I guess I'm no better than her as far as failing to realize how different our visions of the weekend would be. She was crazy about P & E, sure, but she didn't want to spend every one of their waking moments with them the way I -- without even realizing it! -- have begun to. I realized I've turned into the beyond-annoying woman I always bitched about in my old blog. You know her: the one who is incapable of doing or talking about anything that doesn't involve her kids. I feel, in some way, as though I've gone over to the dark side.
I'm guessing that as P & E get older and don't need me quite as much that more of the old me will come back, and I'll become interesting again. The question is, will any of my old friends wait around that long?
posted by Heather at
9/05/2005 09:27:00 PM
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