Sorry for the delay in posting this morning.  After being up with a child who apparently had too much popcorn at our movie yesterday and decided it shouldn’t stay in his stomach, I’m running a bit behind. 

We talk a lot on this blog about what we write …and the inevitable day when our children will fully comprehend what that is.  Not just that Mama is sitting at her computer, typing on the keyboard — thankfully I am still in that stage with my four year old.  But the other day, I was listening to the radio (country music fan here) and heard the song ‘Before She Was Momma’ by Clay Walker.   Some of the song lyrics:

‘Bout ten years old, hide and seek
I found me in the closet
Ready or not I stumbled on
And opened up that box of
Yearbooks, letters, black and whites
A hundred, maybe more
Next thing I know my brothers and me
Got ‘em scattered on the floor (Yeah)

There was one of her, flippin’ the bird
Sittin’ on a Harley
And a few with some hairy hippie dude
Turns out his name was Charlie
Her hair, her clothes, her drinkin’ smokin’
Had us boys confused
I’ll never forget the day us nosey kids got introduced

To Mama, ‘fore she was Mama

I’m certain that ALL of us Mamas here have fond memories of the years before we were Mama and I thought that could be a fun way to spend today.   Before we were wives, before we were anything else but single, footloose and fancy free… what was your life like? How different from your life today?

My life today is completely different from what it was in the “Before Mama” years. (And yes, there are albums and pictures that I would be inclined to lock up so my son never sees them.)  In the “Before Wife” years, my best girlfriend and I were inseparable. (At one point in our lives, we were roommates who commuted to our respective jobs that were five minutes apart, who went to lunch together AND often when out five nights a week together.)  It’s amazing we never tired of each other or ran out of things to talk about…

But in my Before Mama, carefree years, we were constantly on the go.  Usually five nights a week, we were hanging out with friends, out to dinner, out dancing at our favorite spots.  We had the freedom to do what we wanted, when and go wherever the winds took us.  And we often did.   And the one constant, I think, from then to now, is that I was and remain a creature of habit.  When I find something I like or enjoy, I tend to stick with it.  When my hubby and I were in the “Pre-Child” days, we went out usually once or twice a week to a karaoke bar (love to sing, I admit it)… We knew everyone there, we went there for years…and even today, on the rare times we get out of the house, that’s usually our first choice for the evening.  There is something comforting about being somewhere where “everyone knows your name.”

That was often what my BFF and I did, as well.  We had a handful of places that we went to on a regular basis.  We knew the people who worked there, the people who hung out there, and we felt comfortable.  We felt safe. And on occasion, we did really stupid things.  That’s part of growing up, I think.  And today, when I have a chance for a girl’s night, sometimes we go dancing, sometimes we sit at home and watch a movie, and other times we go out to dinner and talk for hours.  Inevitably, we pull out the memory books in our heads and reminisce about those years.

And when we pull those memories out to think of “the good ol’ days”, I can look at them wistfully and still realize that the best years are now.  There are trade-offs in having children — you put a large part of yourself on hold, a large portion of your life on hold in order to be there and raise your little ones.  There will come a day soon enough when he stops wanting to spend time with us, so for now, I choose to cherish every single minute I have.  Things are definitely different in the “Mama” years than they were, but I wouldn’t change a thing.

What were your Before Mama years like? How were they different? How were they the same?