20 Things I Used To Enjoy But Dread After Life With A Baby

I never knew life would be as different as other moms have always made it seem out to be. But they weren’t lying when they said enjoy your freedom, enjoy your sleep, enjoy this and that before baby comes. Don’t get me wrong. I wouldn’t have my life any other way because my baby girl is everything and anything I’ve ever wanted. But holy smokes. Reflecting back on what I used to enjoy compared to now after life with a baby is close to the opposite.

I’m about to share 20 things I used to enjoy doing and would easily get up and do prior to having a baby. And you might totally relate to me or totally not have an idea what I’m talking about. I just thought this would be a fun, reflective post on my life pre-baby and life with a baby.

What I Used To Enjoy But Dread After Life With Baby

While you’re going through each of these things that I personally dread doing now. Check the ones that you also dread doing or tell me ones that I didn’t go over below in the comments.

1. Leaving the house

The hardest part about running errands is first leaving the house. I literally pack my diaper bag and my vehicle up like I’m going away for a week. You have to pack the snacks, drinks, extra shirt, diapers, wipes, not to mention your basics like your wallet, phone, coffee, and other things you might need while you’re out.

And not only do you have to get yourself ready but your baby. Throw in 3 dogs on top of all of this and it’s just a hot mess. In our household, we let each dog out individually because if we let all 3 out at the same time, they’ll play with each other and get muddy and elongate the whole ordeal.

2. Grocery shopping

Once I successfully get us out the door and get to the grocery store, I have to make sure my baby is going to be content the whole entire grocery trip. And by the time you and your baby get inside, you scramble around for your grocery list and left it on the kitchen counter.

But of course, that’s not even the worst part because that’s only happened to me a hand full of times. It’s the worst when your baby has a meltdown and the only thing that’ll end the madness is if you pull your boob out in the middle of the store. Not that I have an issue with that but it’s not like I wanted to camp out at the grocery store.

There’s been plenty of times where my baby has fallen asleep on my boob at the grocery store while pushing the cart with one hand and the other arm holding her. What beautiful and fun memories to share with her one day.

3. Getting dressed

Don’t even get me started about getting dressed. I basically live in a nursing bra, granny panties, and loose fuzzy house shorts.

4. Being motivated to workout

The one thing that I will say that is a challenge for military spouses is living away from family. I wish from time to time that we lived close to one of our family members so that I could get an hour or two away to do what I love doing.

But I am grateful that I do get to work out in the comfort of my own home with a garage full of gym equipment. However, it is nice to get out of the comfort zone, step outside the house, and have some alone time to work out. And since I’m unable to have a routine where I can easily go to the gym like I used to, it’s challenging to get motivated and better yet, stay motivated to work out every day.

5. Staying on top of folding laundry

A lot of these things I enjoyed doing prior to life after a baby, describes the kind of person I am. I’m a type-A person who is neat and orderly and thrives on being on top of everything. This includes laundry. But after having a baby, it’s like something just hit me and makes me push folding laundry back day after day until the pile gets taller than me.

6. Waking up before 8 am

I used to be an early bird and would like to be up nice and early, drink my coffee, get in my fasted cardio, and get my day going. Now, I dread waking up earlier than 8 am and will sleep as long as my baby allows me to.

7. Shopping for myself

Every time I go shopping, I buy everything for my baby. And when I do see something I want, I talk myself out of it and tell myself I don’t need it. But you will catch me buying more toys and clothes that my baby probably does not need because shopping for myself just feels wrong.

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8. Meeting up with friends who don’t have kids

If my friends who don’t have kids are reading this, I promise it’s not how it looks. What I’m trying to say is that it’s nice meeting up with friends who have other babies and kids that can entertain my baby. Therefore, making it less work for me. Because a mama needs a break while still hanging out with her baby and friends.

9. Organizing living space

Why organize and clean like I used to just to turn around and have it destroyed. Having a toddler means having a permanently messy living room (in my situation anyway).

10. Going out to eat

Bless you mamas with those sweet babies that sit so quiet and content. Because you will hear my baby from across the restaurant screaming and demanding all the attention. It is fun times but let’s just say I’ve never scarfed my food down as fast as I do now, life with a baby.

11. Doing multiple errands in one day

I’m pretty sure the sweet spot of the number of times my baby will keep her cool getting in and out of her car seat is about 4 times. After that, she gets super cranky so I try and run 2 to 3 errands or more if I don’t have to get out of the car to do so.

12. Roadtips

Being in a car seat was not my baby’s jam. Although I’ve heard a lot of babies love car rides and fall asleep immediately. But nope, not my baby. She never liked car rides from when she was a newborn to almost 9 months old.

13. Wearing white

What is the point in wearing white anymore? I think I wear my only 2 or 3 white tops for pictures or if I go on a lunch or dinner date with my girls. But you will not see me wearing white around my baby because there’s a lot of juice spillage along with dirty hands.

14. Reading books

It feels like forever ago when I could lay down in peace and enjoy a good book. Instead, my new hobby has become writing these painfully long blog posts about everything you may or may not be interested in hearing about.

15. Doing my whole makeup

Some of you mamas might be that all naturale type of woman. But I love me some eyeliner, falsies, and filled-in eyebrows. And I have a hard time getting all 3 of these things checked off in one sitting.

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16. Getting my hair done

I don’t get my hair done nearly as much as I used to. But welcome to life after a baby. Although my husband watches her when I do get my hair done once a year, all I can think about is the house being on fire and my baby eating stuff on the floor that she shouldn’t. Totally not bashing my husband because he truly is an amazing father to our baby girl. But you know how it is when you’re a mom.

17. Continuing my education

I have two bachelor’s degrees and got accepted into a nurse practitioner program in Nashville Tennesee (Vanderbilt University). This is how much I love studying and going to school. But when you have an impossible baby like mine, it’s hard to even get a shower in each day.

18. Taking my car to the car wash

This was one of the self-care things I used to do. Now, my husband takes over washing both of our vehicles and cleaning all of the nasty crumbs and dried-up fruit pieces in the cracks of my seats.

19. Walking the dogs

My poor oldest dog’s weight chart has only increased since having a baby. And that’s because it’s been hard to not even find the time but the energy to walk all 3 of my dogs. However, before you point fingers and tell me I’m a horrible dog mom, I have trusted all 3 of them more to play outside in the front yard with my baby and me with no leash to tie them down (risky stuff).

20. Meal prepping

I’m sure new moms can probably relate to this. Or even just cooking in general. It’s so much easier to grab something quick and easy than cooking every single day. I used to meal prep for my husband and me every single week. But our scale has told us otherwise from the way we’ve been eating since having our baby.

In Conclusion

I hope you didn’t take this post as an “I enjoyed my life without a baby more than life with a baby”. It’s totally not like that because I would not be half the woman I am today if it weren’t for my baby being born. I do hope you could find humor in this blog post and appreciate all mothers (like yourself) for making the sacrifices on a daily to raise the next generation of kind humans.