Being a parent brings a lot of unexpected joys you never would have anticipated in your prechild life: the pride you feel when your child reaches a milestone, the overwhelming love you experience when your kids bond with your own parents, and the satisfaction you’ll encounter when you successfully complete any task with a baby and toddler in tow. But there’s another category of things you’ll think are utterly incredible after you become a mom that you probably never saw coming. If you’re an introvert, chances are these things already bring you some amount of happiness, but when you’re a mom, that nirvana reaches a whole new level.
BEING HOME ALONE . . . EVEN FOR AN HOUR
Maybe you’ve always appreciated your alone time, but once you become a mom, never will you be as excited to be in your own home without another soul in sight. The quiet, the potential to bathe, primp, or just sit without interruption . . . it’s glorious.
DOING YOUR OWN LAUNDRY
Laundry before kids felt like a chore, even though you probably only did it once or twice a week. Laundry after kids is a daily task that literally does not end. Things only stay clean for maybe an hour, the loads are bigger than you thought humanly possible, and you spend the time you once used for books and TV shows folding all those clothes. But on those rare weekends when your kids are with their grandparents and you only have to do your laundry and absolutely no one else’s? The joy is hard to put into words.
COOKING JUST 1 DINNER
Pat yourself on the back if you’ve trained your kids to consume the same dinner you and your partner also eat every night. The rest of us are dreaming about that day while we spend hours preparing separate meals for every picky eater in our family who all claim to be starving while also saying nothing sounds good. But what if you only had to worry about what you feel like and just make enough for one? Use those sleepover invitations to your advantage.
BEING BORED
Boredom isn’t anyone’s desired state . . . until you become a mom and realize there’s not a second you’re not busy or overwhelmed. Those rare times when you do find yourself with some unexpected downtime with nothing on your to-do list are pretty wonderful.
TAKING A LONG FLIGHT SOLO
After you’ve experienced the hell that is flying with babies and toddlers, even sitting in the smallest coach seat on the longest flight ever sounds amazing – as long as you get to do it all by your lonesome. With nowhere to go and nothing to do but read that book you’ve been trying to get through for the last six months or watch movies that aren’t animated, a solo cross-country flight is a simple pleasure.
COMMUTING
Traffic sucks, but doesn’t a moderate commute (let’s say 20 to 30 minutes) every day sound pretty awesome, assuming there are absolutely no kids in your car? You could catch up on podcasts, rock out to NSFW music, or just soak up the simple sounds of the morning rush around you.
SLEEPING UNTIL 8 A.M.
Before kids, I never woke up before 8 a.m., still managed to get to my desk before 9 every morning, and still acted like getting up so early was torture (I like to sleep). These days, I’m happy if the clock says 6-something when my kids get me up, and the thought of being able to stay in bed until 8 sounds like a version of heaven.
