The day I decided to “settle down” and have a family, is the day I unknowingly entered “life in the fast lane”. What? Don’t agree? I didn’t either, until I read a recently published Babble article by Erin Behan that made me change the way I thought about my day-to-day lifestyle.

It’s true, during my first pregnancy, I did a fair amount of lounging around on the sofa. Growing a human is exhausting work. But alas, I had no idea what I was in for as a mother.

Taking care of a newborn is extremely tiring work.

Taking care of a toddler while pregnant will drain every ounce of your energy.

Parenting a preschooler and a toddler while pregnant (again!) made me want to pass out from sleep deprivation.

Raising a first grader, preschooler, and a toddler while pregnant (oops..for the forth time) has proven to many of my friends and family that I am in fact, insane.

I hear it all the time. “You are going to have your hands full.” “How are you ever going to keep up?”

It’s true, motherhood has propelled me into the fast lane. Everything I do for myself, I try to accomplish in record speed.

• I quickly shower, only a few times a week, and rarely shave my legs.

• If I want to use the bathroom with the door completely shut, I do my business in lighting speed. One time I shut the door a few minutes too long, and payed for it dearly with a Sharpie masterpiece waiting for me on the wall.

• I eat most meals over the sink, especially breakfast and lunch. Dessert is always scarfed down as I hide in the pantry with the lights out.

• Alone time with my husband often means “locking the door” and “getting it done” on Saturday afternoons while the kids are taking their 15 minute naps.

• And one of the saddest things, going to the gynecologist has now become “me” time.

Looking back, the slowest time of my life was lived those blissful few years before I had a family. Of course I had responsibilities, but my time was essentially my own. Weekends were often met with sleeping in, a leisurely afternoon filled with running errands, and dinner plans with friends in the evening.

Now, running a large family, I spend each and every day rushing, rushing, rushing, typically getting nothing accomplished other than surviving to live another day.

How about you? Do you feel like your life has slowed down since having kids? Or, are you too, living in the fast lane of motherhood?

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