1. Being a mom has made me more patient. I guess I was never a super-impatient person, but now that I deal with a crying, tantruming, or just plain not-in-a-hurry child on a regular basis I’ve developed a well of patience I never imagined I’d possess. That has spilled over into other parts of my life and made me calmer and less prone to hysterics in general.

2. Being a mom has deepened my friendships with other moms. I know it’s annoying to hear this when you don’t have kids—believe me, I used to be one of those kid-less people rolling her eyes at things like what I’m about to say—but when you become a mom it’s like being admitted into a big club where you can always find like-minded people to commiserate or laugh with, whether they’re your age or ten years younger or fifty years older.

3. I have someone to color and paint and craft with! even before I had kids, I always had a drawer full of craft supplies (64-boxes of crayons, markers in every color of the rainbow, glitter, glue, construction paper) that I’d occasionally pull out to make a birthday card or entertain kids I was babysitting. Now, I have a big tall bookcase full of craft supplies and a kid who likes gluing and painting with me.

4. I love getting to see people I love reflected in Annalie. In particular, I have an entirely new view of my brother as a kid. Ben is only 17 months younger than I am, and when we were kids he lived to push my buttons. He was a happy kid, always laughing and goofing around, which for some reason annoyed me to no end. He and my mom used to get the giggles in church, laughing helplessly the more they tried to stop, while I got embarrassed. (That is how I remember it. My mom says I was not as serious a kid as I seem to think I was.) Now, I see a lot of my brother in Annalie. She loves to be silly, just like Ben did. Looking back now, I can see that he must have been a really fun kid for my mom to have around, and that when he was being silly with me he was mostly just trying to get me to join in the fun.

5. I love knowing that I have the funniest, smartest kid in the world. This is a cliche, of course; every parent knows that her child is the best ever. And it’s totally true for every single kid.

(Are all the other moms gone now? Okay, c’mere and I’ll tell you a secret…all their kids are very sweet and cute and all, but Annalie really IS the funniest and smartest kid ever. Don’t tell them I told you, or their feelings would be hurt!)

I wrote this post because I was tagged by Angella for a meme about motherhood, involving 80 clicks around the world. I’m supposed to tag moms in a wide variety of places, so I’m tagging:

Bonnie of zebrabelly.com – Southern California
Jen of Hey, Mrs. Wilson! – Saskatchewan, Canada
Celia of Mendez Crisis – Canary Islands
Aileen of One Scrappy Gal – Connecticut
Sonja of girl with green card – Southern California, but in Germany on vacation at the moment!

If I didn’t tag you but you want to play along, consider yourself tagged.