with child vs. without child

with child = me (or my husband)
without child = all my childless girlfriends (or guy friends)

i have been reading a lot about how life is different once you have kids.  yeah, it is.  everything changes.  one of the hits for the mommy's are the relationships they have with their girlfriends.  for the mommy's (as in my case) i mourn the days when i had no responsibility.  i could go out with my girlfriends whenever i wanted, talk on the phone with them with no interruptions, they could come over at any time and not have to worry about me being pre-occupied with my little guy...and the list goes on.  for the non-mommy's, maybe they mourn the same thing i do.  or maybe they wish they had the same thing (a kiddo).  if this is the case, they are nuts and need professional help (just kidding).  i found this article that relates to what i'm talking about. 

life changes, even for men.  men?  really?  yeah.  however, it is my strong belief that it changes more for women than for men.  see, men mourn that they have responsibility, but on the flip side, they seem to more easily justify their reasons for having to do things other than daddy duty.  am i right moms?  example) matt bowls on wednesday nights.  no big deal.  i feed tucker, play with him, get him ready for bedtime, etc.  no worries and tucker is not screaming for his father as he walks out the door.  no drama.  it is all good.  however, when i bowl on thursday nights, matt is usually tired from work (who isn't though?).  he usually takes a nap before i leave (huge mistake as he is godzilla when he gets up).  then, he is all cranky and i have to leave him with the little runt who is screaming for his mother to come back to him.  he frustrated and therefore can sometimes vent that frustration towards me.  hey dude, i don't need what you're selling.  yeah, it's frustrating, but mom's deal with frustration all the time.  but this is life...as a parent.  this is not all the time, but many of you mom's know what i'm talking about!

don't get me wrong, we have a great group of friends, but no matter how you look at it, things have changed.  in time, they will all catch up and have little gomper's of their own, but for now...it is what it is.  we have to make the time (and find the sitter) in order to have fun like we did before.  that usually is not a big deal, but priorities change. 

well, that was eh, heavy.