10 OMG Things Your Mom Never Told You About Being A Mom

By Yanira Garza

If you asked me year ago what motherhood was all about, I'd give you the typical answers like love and family. But becoming mami is just… so much more. Here are ten things no one tells you about becoming a mom.

1. You wasted your time with excuses.

I wasted my nights and weekends dancing, sleeping in and couch surfing and quite frankly looking for excuses as to why I couldn't achieve more in life. I figured with kids? Forget about getting anything done. But as a mom, I sleep less, I only watch cartoons and I stand even when I eat, yet I can get more done in 6 hours than I ever could in a week, with two kids.

2. Privacy is a luxury.

Remember the days when you showered alone, you could use the bathroom without someone trying to tunnel in under the door, or when you could sit for longer than 3 minutes at a time? Say adios. Even when you request alone time (“mommy needs alone time,”) they find you and ask if alone time is over... after four minutes.

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3. You are forced to become more financially responsible.

Kids drain you. Between activities, school, clothes and food (yes, you have to feed them), you are lucky if you can afford a tall coffee, no cream, no sugar. (Those are extra.) So of course, you do what any good mom does: you adapt. You make your cafe con leche at home, and you cut those coupons and you get excited over sales racks. I've learned the difference between buying what I need and mindless spending on what I don't.

Surprisingly, I have more in my savings now than before.

4. You become a child again.

I'd rather bail on doing housework, much to my own mother's and mother in law's displeasure, than skip out on a tea party or outdoor picnic with my kids. You’ll always be up to date on the newest Disney songs, and you’ll find yourself belting them out in the car. And that car next to you full of attractive guys? Yeah, they’re just jealous they can't hit those high notes of “Let It Go.” You're having fun with your kids, so nothing else matters.

5. There is a cure for everything.

All those crazy wives tales you heard about when you were pregnant just sounded...well, crazy. Now you know that no matter what the doctor, or reason says, Vicks VaporRub really does cure everything except a broken heart.

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6. Traditions become more important.

I was never a traditional person. But despite my own carefree thinking, I chose to get married, have two kids and move to the suburbs. It doesn't get more traditional than that. Now, we write letters to Santa, we have family date nights and Valentine's Day isn't for lovers, it is for our littlest loves – the kiddos. Seventeen-year-old me would drop dead if she knew.

7. Being strong is a requirement.

Sticks and stones do not break bones, not if you are a mom. Becoming a mom makes you believe that you are their seat belt, bodyguard and bulletproof vest. The strength and courage you find to stand in between your kids and harm's way was something I never knew I had nor fully understood until my kids. And if anyone messes with them? It’s time to raise some hell.

8. You learn that patience truly is a virtue.

I have never been patient, not by any means. But my kids have taught me to keep my cool and let certain things go. I don't have to win every argument, and I don't have to prove every point. Also, chalk and paint in the carpet is no big deal. (Gulp.) Really.

9. You finally understand that moms are always right.

I use to drive my mother insane. I hated cleaning my room, I would sneak and wear makeup when she told me I was too young and my sarcasm made me sound like a total brat. She said I would one day pay for all her suffering. I just laughed.

Now, I'm fighting with my daughter to clean her room, telling her to watch her words and to stop playing in my makeup. My mother finds the irony absolutely hilarious.

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10. You become a better person, for them.

Becoming a mother had forced me to grow up and become the person I want my children to admire, something I was too scared to do before. I gave up too quickly, and quit often – but my children give me all the reasons to have faith in myself.