Doing Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Now that I'm a mom, I can do things I would have sworn were impossible--especially for me, and sometimes for anyone.

Many are sleep related---I can apparently:

• Wake up every hour or two to nurse a baby, and still be somewhat functional the next day--every day for months with no breaks
  
• Fall asleep while nursing the baby in bed beside me
• Get up an hour or two earlier than I did pre-kids, every single day, no matter whether the kids wake me up or not (95% of the time they do, of course)...with no sleeping in days.
  

I can also:

• Bounce on a Pilate's ball while holding the baby and the toddler, and also a) sing b) use the computer mouse or c) eat dinner
• Accidentally go to the store in my crocs and not care about it (too much)
• Walk around the house while nursing a baby in order to answer the phone or help the toddler
• Not flip out and yell "The same damn thing I was doing last time you asked, what do you think?" when answering "what are you doing mommy?" the 10th time in two minutes.
• Love two kids more than I love myself, and put their needs ahead of my own basically all the time
• Enjoy not working outside the home
• Look forward to having just a half hour without the kids so that I can do dinner prep or sweep the floor
• Think "oh it's just pee" (or spit up, or snot) and move on without another thought.
• Discovered that I can parent without spanking, and still have a pleasant and reasonably well behaved child most of the time, all without having torn my own hair out (so far).
• Found that every single thing I try to do takes 3-10 times as long, and still, as a generally impatient person, love my life
  

And then the (even) less pleasant surprises...I have:

• Found that being a parent means I now have things to worry about 100% of the time
• Found that being a mom means I now have things to feel guilty about 100% of the time
  
• Bought my toddler a leash because I really can't keep him with me and hold the baby and check books out at the library
• Seriously considered cutting off my toddler's crusts, which I swore I'd never do, because not only does he not eat them, but he's starting to leave about half his sandwich uneaten because it's attached to them...
• Found out that there's not much I can do to keep my son from sleeping on the floor, now that he's out of the crib, other than to pick him up after he's deeply asleep and put him back in bed.
• Wash my hair 2-3 times a week instead of every day

I feel like I have an entirely different life now than I did pre-kids. And it's mostly pretty amazing and wonderful. It's so weird to think how little I'd have known about myself and about love if I'd never had kids....and I'm so grateful I did...