I like other stuff too

I have a post in the works about my social life and new expectations...while I work on that, I wanted to talk about a similar concept.

Yes, I'm a new mom (can you tell?) and I love the stuffing out of my Little Person.

And...

Wait for it...

Here it comes...

I like other stuff too!

I know it's hard to believe, because if you've been in conversation with me lately, (and you're also reading a blog called mamaletsgo...which is about parenting), you hear a lot about my kid, but I really do like other stuff too. Still.

I still like to write, make stuff, eat healthy food (okay, well, this is harder to do, but if you offered it to me, I would eat it), have deep conversations, do personal development work, read non-baby/parenting books, listen to music, watch movies and TV, garden (don't look at our yard...), figure out interior design projects (and promptly forget about them still...can't blame that on parenting...), run businesses, talk about businesses, and loads of other stuff.

I don't like admitting this, because I kinda feel horrible sometimes that I don't want to talk about my amazing kid. I know that his arrival now gives people who normally would have NOTHING to say to me, something for them to talk to me about, but after the "He's awesome" answer, I feel like we're back to where we started.

And I want to talk about other stuff! See? I just italicized it, which makes it doubly true.

Has motherhood changed me a lot? Sure. But many things aren't different. I'm back to getting sleep, so we don't need to talk about how tired I am, either. I'm not sick, I'm not that fat anymore, I'm struggling with different things, but overall, I still like to make pop-culture references, go to the library, eat yummy food, meet new people, go shopping, walk around, and people watch.

I also still like to do things. Is it harder? Yes. Am I far less available and sometimes subjected to the whims of a 9 month old? Of course. But if you want to hang, sans baby, I can ask for childcare. I'm also still helpful. Except for some language loss, I still have creative ideas, still like to help people, and still enjoy your company, even though you don't have kids (and may not ever want them). I didn't like to drink before, so nothing has changed in that regard, but that never stopped me from having fun. Actually, I'm kinda into more things in a way too. Camping, hiking, nature-y things, etc. Go figure. I'm still obsessed with cleaning, even though I don't do it anymore...we're working on it. But just because my house is messier, doesn't mean I don't care anymore. It just means another person is there making it a bit harder. Oh well.

I don't watch my language still (and after reading this, I'll probably keep swearing, so beware), I don't want to shop for kids clothing/toys/schools/colleges, I won't show you pictures of my kid (unless you ask), and I'm not trying to turn every room into the baby's room/playroom/walk-in closet, etc. Our child is a member of our family, which has two other immediate members and about 13 other still pretty close members. So he's not the entire focus of my brain. Don't hate me. Or call CPS. Or think I'm selfish (well, think whatever you want).

I'm just not interested in letting go of ALL of the things I like about myself because I have a new person in my life. K should know that I have a life in addition to our shared interests...that's healthy I think. That he isn't the center of my world creates stability for all of us, because he's just changing too much. I create the stability so that when things get crazy, we all don't fall apart. So I'm not letting go of me...