What I miss most

Several of my "milk mom" friends are bloggers. One of our friends is also a dedicated reader and occasional commenter, and we asked her to come up with a list of writing prompts that the group could use and write about at similar times.

So, today, I am writing on one of those prompts which is to write about what I miss most from my life pre-motherhood.

Missing things from life pre-motherhood has nothing to do with how much I love my children.  I can love them fiercely AND also miss things from my previous life.  One does not preclude the other.

I miss laying on the couch after dinner and watching the News, or Jeopardy or the Simpsons.  Are the Simpsons even on at 7pm anymore ?  I also miss waking up on a Sunday morning, walking sleepily to the living room and watching CBS News Sunday Morning.  I also miss getting a day off when I am sick.  Now that I am back to working and have childcare it is technically easier to accomplish this, but as a part-time contractor I have to put in a lot of face time.

I miss the assumptions that didn't come my way when I wasn't a mother.  When I became a mother, people assumed things about me.  For example, my office leases space from a law firm and several people gather together for lunch on a regular basis.  It is one of the things I enjoy most about my daytime job.  On one occasion, we were talking about our favorite books as well as about books that have affected us.  I turned to the young female attorney sitting next to me and said, "What about you, F ?"  She responded, "Oh, you probably wouldn't like it.  It's non-fiction."

I felt like I had been slapped, and then I got mad.

It turned out that I was familiar with the author of her book - I had read one of his first books FOR FUN in graduate school.

I miss the house staying tidy after I tidied it.

I miss being spoken to respectfully and kindly.  My children sometimes speak rudely to me and it cuts me like a knife.  Of course, I respond with the usual admonitions, but the cut still stings.

I can't think of anything else.  I don't miss much, honestly.