Before I had a child I’m not really sure what I did with my time. I worked full-time but when I came home I didn’t really have that much to do unless I had plans for the evening. And of course it was easier to go out but I usually saved that for the weekend anyway.

I remember answering some questions for a phone survey and they asked if I did volunteer work and other questions around community work and I left that interview feeling quite slack because I didn’t really contribute to the community much at all.

I got a dog nearly two years before I had my son so I had to walk her and she occupied some more of my time.

Then I had a baby and my life completely changed as babies tend to do for you.

I look back at those childfree days and feel really very lazy and sometimes I miss them. Sometimes I would rather sleep in on a Saturday morning or lay in bed and read my book rather than get up and drive around town and watch my son play sport. Sometimes I’d like to make plans on a Friday night when my son has scouts and I have to drop him off and pick him up at certain times. But I’m not bored.

I remember a girlfriend telling me I’d never be bored once my child came along and she was right. Mind you, I have been bored in completely different ways. I got bored of changing nappies. I got bored of tantrums in public, and I’m talking about my son’s tantrums. I had mine in private. I got bored of staying at home when he was a baby before I went back to work. I was never a baby person. I couldn’t wait for him to start talking but now I’m bored of him talking so much. Well that’s not quite true. We do have a really good laugh sometimes. I’m much more into the age he is now than the baby age and that baby boredom has lifted – thank goodness. I like other people’s babies because I can hand them back and I know that I won’t be up at an ungodly hour feeding them.

And as well as the time that having a child takes up, and working nearly full-time I seem to be doing lots of other things that I never did before. I’ve developed an interest in photography and then sharing those photos on social networks. And there’s all the other online stuff that uses up my time. I go to pilates once a week. I’ve dabbled with salsa classes. I recently started singing lessons again so I’m doing some things for myself so that my whole life doesn’t revolve around my child. I’m conscious that he’s growing up really quickly and one day my time won’t revolve around him so much. I’m sure I will really miss that.

And how can I be bored of this devil-child?

Tweet