Have kids

“Since having my kids, the role of mom has felt all-consuming. I have traded adventure and travel for the mundane tasks of motherhood and hours upon hours of breastfeeding. While I still work, I don’t feel I have time to be as ambitious as I once was. I have lost touch with friends, and rarely want to go out anymore (and definitely not if it’s later than 7:00 pm). I often fail to meditate, work out, and do the things that once helped me recharge. My carefree world has become colored with anxiety as I deal with an almost crippling worry over my kids. [...] Last night I stood in the kitchen cooking dinner in my spit-up-covered sweatpants and looked around as my baby jumped in her bouncer and my toddler ran around singing “Let It Go” for the 100 th time that day, and I was stunned at what my life has become.”

“its amazing and doesn't feel real lol. when my son was born he came out with a head shaped like roger from american dad and a skin colour to match but it was the most amazing thing. i remember exactly what i thought when i first saw him as the doctors placed him on my wifes chest and it was simply "wow he actually has arms and legs" lol. my son being an actual human was the most surreal thing to me. i didn't quite realise how profound an experience having children would actually be. when i first held him i thought he was the coolest and most interesting dude ever to exist, i wanted to know everything about him to the point it feels obsessive lol. you have an instant bond/connection with your child that never goes away. its like when you've got something in the oven or a bath running in that its in the back of your mind. having a kid is the same kind of constant feeling”

“Holding other people's babies always felt weird. I didn't know how things would go and I was quite nervous at the idea. Sometime within a month of my daughter being born, I had an experience that is almost impossible to describe. But it felt like I had a vision or dream where I saw her. I wasn't asleep nor did I physically see her but I "saw her" in a vague way or sensed her if that makes any sense at all. I seemed to have a connection that didn't feel like it began just that year. It was easy enough to brush off my experience at the time as daydreaming or just being nuts. When she was born, I was there to hold her first. I instantly recognized her. I didn't feel like I was meeting her for the first time but it was more of a reunion. Without the benefit of having the child grow inside of me as mom did, this instant bonding was really helpful. I assumed this was normal and something that was great about having children...instant recognition and bonding - like you just intuitively know your own kid at first sight.”