The better times

28 Apr The better times

Once upon a time, we had dinner parties until after midnight and slept in until after eight the next morning to find many more empty bottles of wine than we thought we’d consumed. Once upon a time, we went on long runs five times a week with no prams or spare nappies, only dogs who ran in line and in time with our much quicker pace. Once upon a time, we went on holidays to rooms that felt organized and spacious. Life was slower and quieter, we had more time to read and had lower BMIs.
Nowadays, we sit around dinner tables clock watching to get home in time for baby sitters and carefully count the number of glasses of wine we drink, very aware that tomorrow morning we’ll be woken at the same time we were today – long before the sun rises. Nowadays, we force ourselves to get out for a walk at least twice a week, with prams and snacks (to allow the distractions of the walk to get some fruit or veg consumed!) and a couple of dogs thrown into the mix, who generally tug and pull in any direction other than the general direction that the troupes are heading. Nowadays, we go on holiday to rooms crammed with camp cots and extra mattresses, piles of nappies and bum cream and lounges littered with books and toys, broken biscuits and half eaten apples. Nowadays, life is a blur of bottles and meal times, roller coaster toddler emotions and bribery with sweets to get five minutes of quiet.
But somehow, this chaos has become our new normal without us really noticing.  These new routines have become our new comfort zone. If we’re forced to admit it, we wouldn’t have it any other way.  We cannot really remember what it was like any other way.  The wine is less (maybe not!), the dinner parties are now breakfast gatherings in child friendly restaurants.  Planning and packing for holidays now takes days, not hours.  The mornings are earlier and the days far longer, but now filled with so much joy and laughter even with the tears and temper tantrums.  We now understand a deeper love than we’ve ever known. Times have changed.  Times are so different now, but so much better.