Things I wish I'd done before having kids

Ahh kids. I love them more than life itself but they don't half change your life do they! I knew I always wanted to have kids young (my Mum had 4 before 25 and I had just assumed I would follow suit), and I am so pleased that I was able to, but every now and again I get a twinge of sadness at some of the things I'd have liked to have done or achieved before creating our family. It's not that I regret having mine so young, I absolutely don't and would do it the same way again, it's just that I wish I'd been more organised and thought through some of the goals I had for myself before motherhood. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that. Lee and I were only 20 when we married and started our family so there really wasn't much space for most of these things, but I've written them down for your perusal anyway - and as a reminder to myself of the things I'd still like to achieve!

1. Travelled

And I mean roughing it travelling. Back packing through the phillipines, skinny dipping in the med sea, sampling the delights of the Japanese markets. I'm not a 'book a villa in a different country but spend the entire time on the beach' kinda chick. I want to sample the culture, taste the foods, experience the history and do it without the need for 500 suitcases carrying everything a baby and 3 kids may need. 

2. Gone skiing

My parents went skiing when I was in my teens and the stories they told me have sparked the desire for me to slide down a snowy mountain ever since. Lee went skiing when he was in high school and I am desperate to do it with him. I like the idea of taking the kids, but ski school doesn't start until they turn 5 and I selfishly don't want to be too restricted by bedtimes and tired children in the evenings. I know, I know, I chose to have kids, but skiing is expensive and I want to make the most of it when I get the chance to do it!

3. Bought a house

I don't know many 19 year olds who have a deposit saved up and when Lee and I found out we were pregnant we were the same. We needed to move out of our parents homes and set up for ourselves on our limited budget (Lee was training to teach and earning a wage from a local Supermarket and fast food place, and I worked part time in a chip shop). We made it work, and that first year was actually my favourite as we budgeted our measly £20 grocery shop and worked out how to live frugally, but it meant we were renting and we have been ever since. 

4. Gone to University

If I really think about it, I probably just want to do uni for the uni lifestyle, but I still hold this one as something that I failed in. I have a new love of learning (that I didn't really have at 19 so I'd for sure appreciate uni more now!), and I would love to have a uni degree under my belt and be able to say I went and graduated. I didn't even know what I wanted to study straight after high school though, so I would have been going just for the sake of it, but now I'm seriously considering heading to uni and studying again. Watch this space...

Here's the amazing thing though, all of these things can be done after having kids too. Some are more restrictive, some are more expensive, some just take a lot more planning, but having kids doesn't stop you from being able to reach the dreams you always had for yourself. Whilst I have a strong list of things I would like to have done before having kids, I'm writing this as a reminder that I can still do them - and I WILL do them. When my kids are all grown I'll only be 45 and last time I checked that barely counted as middle aged, so I'm excited to be able to work towards some of these in my 40's and 50s, but I'm fully aware that I can do some of these whilst enjoying my children during their childhood too. You're life isn't over when you start a family....it's just beginning.

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