Hello My Name Is - How Being a Mom Changed Me

As a mom I have made some trades. I have traded slacks for yoga pants and hairdressers for ponytails. I have written in the past about how this has changed me spiritually... today I'll go in a slightly different direction.

What follows is a list of some of the trades I've made as I become more mom and less... whatever I was before.

I don’t watch TV anymore, I watch the face of a child as her eyes widen with excitement.

I don’t listen to talk radio anymore, I listen to two sisters laughing hysterically over funny faces.

I don’t cook dinner anymore, I provide sustenance and cut it up into unrecognizable sized pieces sure to not choke an ant.

I don’t clean the house anymore, I manage chaos and corral stuffed animals.

I don’t have a girls night out anymore, I take those kids with me everywhere.

I don’t go on vacation, I just take the crazy with me on airplanes, on trains, on road trips and wonder why in the world I do this to myself.

I don’t work 9-5 anymore, I work 24/7.

I don’t get dressed up anymore, I perform the sniff test before putting on a sweatshirt and hastily brushing my teeth.

I don’t get my nails done, I paint my own, along with two other pairs of tiny, dirty, chubby-fingered hands in between chopping and stirring.
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I don’t run errands anymore, I pack enough snacks for a week and pray for a good bagger.

I don’t sit at starbucks anymore, I scoot through the drive through and wonder if my husband will cringe when he sees another green labeled cup in the trashcan.

I don’t go to or host dinner parties anymore, I go to and host birthday parties with balloons, princesses, and lots of screaming.

I don’t have a nice quiet out dinner with my husband anymore, I have a loud, hurried scarf-it-down-before-someone-implodes dinner with my husband.

I don’t have a schedule anymore, I have a you-must-be-dreaming-to-think-you’re-gonna-get-all-that-done list that gets tossed as soon as the sun comes up.

I don’t take showers anymore, I put on dance parties and sing-alongs while simultaneously shaving my legs and washing my hair.
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I don’t go to the bathroom anymore, I hold closed-door meetings of intelligent minds.

I don’t take pictures anymore, I capture moments.

I don’t pray anymore, I plead and beg and petition on the behalf of these sweet hearts who have no idea, yet, of their own needs and their own depravity.

I don’t sing anymore, I shout up to the Lord for Him to hear.

I don’t study anymore, I lay out my heart for the Lord to rip it open, to make me something worth, if that’s possible, of this role I’ve been given.
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I don’t love anymore, I rip my heart out and put it in the hands of two little girls who don’t have any idea how much it hurts to love like this.

What kind of trades have you made as a mom? I know I'm not the only one!! :)