Why Motherhood Isn't What I Expected

Before I had a baby, I was a child. I was sixteen when I became pregnant, and had no real idea of what being a mother was like. I thought that I would keep my friends and my freedom to go and do as I pleased. The reality was a shock.

When my child came into the world, I and my husband took our baby with us everywhere. We didn't have babysitters because we didn't trust them. However, that limited the places we could go. We couldn't hike down the cliffs and walk the creek like we always did. We couldn't go to parties. We couldn't play the music loud. There was alot that we couldn't do with a baby in our arms.

Since our income was nearly non-existent we had very few things to go and do. Most of the extra money went to buy diapers and baby bottles. My friends had pretty much deserted me since I had nothing to offer them. They was single and childless and didn't understand why I didn't have the money or time to go shopping, to parties or anywhere to just hang out. My new friends were my mothers friends- the very ones that I had thought of as old just a year before. They was actually better friends than my old ones because they knew what I was going through.

Motherhood of an infant is tougher than I ever thought. Not because of getting up for two am feedings or any of the other baby related chores, but because I had to learn quickly that life wasn't a playground. So while motherhood isn't as I expected, it was just what I needed.