Why does time have to fly by when you are having fun?
It drags on and on when you are doing something you don’t want to do (like exercise), and yet speeds up when you are having the time of your life.
Apparently, I’ve been having a blast lately, because I’ve suddenly turned around, and I’ve realized I don’t look like the person I used to be. I am not even exactly the woman my husband married.
I am someone quite different now. Ten years ago, I probably wouldn’t even recognize myself as I am today. I am a mother with two kids — a little bit older, hopefully a little bit wiser, but definitely changed.
Your parents always tell you that life after kids will be different. But you shrug it off. What do they know anyway?
You’ll be the person who changes the limits. You’ll be the parent who has it all — the career, the exciting hobbies, the parent of the year award. Yes, life is going to happen for you.
Sometimes I wonder about the shadow of my former self. Before I was married, my great love was a 16.1 hand, bay Thoroughbred named William.
He went to college with me, met my husband-to-be and saw me through getting married and settling down.
After I had my first child, my mother gave me a charm bracelet with a tiny clock on it. She said it was to remind me that my time was no longer my own.
I think of this often, because, the older I get, the more truth this statement holds for me. My time is no longer my own, and my time goes by so much faster.
I hate to be the one to tell you, but being a parent will change you. And I’ll admit, I’m probably no longer as fun and cool as I once was. I look forward to bedtime more than anyone now.
I couldn’t imagine my life without him. I thought I knew it all, and had it all figured out.
But that goes to show you, you never really know what life has in store for you (and you don’t know it all when you are 21). You can have it planned out, even all your i’s dotted and t’s crossed, but life happens and things change.
Now, while I don’t have a barn full of horses or even a Ford Mustang to my name, I have people who love me, no matter what. My husband and kids don’t love me for the person I am on the outside, but the person I am on the inside.
I may look like a different person — a nose wiping, cookie baking, SUV driver, in fact — but somewhere in there is the girl who isn’t afraid to get dirty and will try to jump over whatever obstacles come at me, even accepting a few falls along the way.
I know life is challenging, but it is also full of possibilities and good things. This I know for sure. You just have to look for opportunities and grab onto them when they come your way. Hang on tight; you’re in for the ride of your life.
