Evolution of Family Life

At different stages of life, we must all say goodbye. Over time, I've parted with the following:

With Marriage:
* Said goodbye to only paying 1/4 of the rent and utilities.
* Said goodbye to being able to walk across my bedroom floor without stepping on socks.
* Said goodbye to only doing a portion of the cleaning...yet still having a relatively spotless house.
* Said goodbye to only being responsible for and accountable to myself.

* Said goodbye to the toilet seat always being in "my" position.

* Said goodbye to always getting to pick the radio station.

With 1 Child:
* Said goodbye to my self-imposed daily and weekly chore chart.
* Said goodbye to leaving the house in 10 minutes or less.
* Said goodbye to ironing Greg's shirts.
* Said goodbye to sleeping in.
* Said goodbye to spontaneous weekend trips and regular eating out.

* Said goodbye to my "6-pack." (ok, ok...you can't say goodbye to something that never really existed)
* Said goodbye to our 2 man tent.
* Said goodbye to hours and hours of leisurely reading.

* Said goodbye to alphabetizing the cd's and videos.

* Said goodbye to my "professional" attire.

With 2 Children:
* Said goodbye to guaranteed daily naps.
* Said goodbye to leaving the house with only 1 bag.
* Said goodbye to to leaving the house in 30 minutes or less.
* Said goodbye to the single stroller.
* Said goodbye to our 4 man tent.
* Said goodbye to reading novels.
* Said goodbye to going to the bathroom by myself.

* Said goodbye to thinking I was a patient person.

With 3 Children:
* Said goodbye to washing each person's clothes separately.
* Said goodbye to walking across the floor in bare feet.
* Said goodbye to running more than 2 errands at a time.
* Said goodbye to my favorite jeans.
* Said goodbye to leaving the house in less than 45 minutes.
* Said goodbye to our 2 door Nissan Sentra.
* Said goodbye to reading magazine articles in one sitting.

* Said goodbye to uninterrupted workouts.

* Said goodbye to talking on the phone.

With 4 Children:
* Said goodbye to sorting light and dark loads of laundry.
* Said goodbye to including the food groups at every meal.
* Said goodbye to keeping my house at 70 degrees.
* Said goodbye to my gym membership.
* Said goodbye to leaving the house in less than 1 hour.
* Said goodbye to any desire to go camping.
* Said goodbye to reading anything that required deep thinking.

* Said goodbye to ever going anywhere by myself.
* Said goodbye to remembering anything that wasn't written down.

With 5 Children: (Although it's only been 6 weeks, I've realized it's happening again...)
* Saying goodbye to daily make-up.
* Saying goodbye to non-air-dried and styled hair.
* Saying goodbye to folding laundry and putting it away. (OK - I've just GIVEN UP!)
* Saying goodbye to matching socks...it takes too long to look for matches in the piles of laundry that don't get folded.
* Saying goodbye to ever having a little extra cash sitting around for a rainy day.
* Wishing I could say goodbye to our Pontiac Montana...
* Saying goodbye to staying up past 11pm...BY CHOICE.
* Saying goodbye to leaving the house...PERIOD.

BUT JUST FOR CLARIFICATION....I would never trade ANY of these things for my beautiful little family. This post was spawned today when I realized that if it's not Sunday, or a day with an appointment...it's just too hard to do my hair and put on make-up. I started thinking of all the things that have gone by the wayside over the years....