By Annabella Abalo of ZKBuzyBuzz

“Please don’t grow up too fast, baby.” These pleading words often come out of mothers’ mouths when they are on cloud nine. It could be that their little ones might have done something cute and funny that deserves some praise and admiration from Mommy.

But when little tyke pees all over the floor, or worse, on top of the dining table, lovable Mommy transforms in a split of second to a badass, scary villain. And I don’t think she’ll say the same line mentioned above. Right at those kinds of moments, most of us are eagerly looking forward for our young ones to grow up (definitely beyond teenage years), be free and live a life on their own, for we definitely miss the “Me Time,” baby.

It’s not that we don’t love them (our little ones will always be the love of our lives), but this so called motherhood is most of the time a tiring, sanity-sucking crazy ride. And we all love to dream about what our lives will be like when our tots are all young adults, building a life away from Mommy’s loving comfort zone.

So here are the things I’ve been dying to do when that time comes:

1. Lock away all the clocks. I’ll definitely keep away all the alarm clocks/wall clocks—all clocks will be trapped in the darkest corner of our house. I don’t want to be racing with time ever again, looking at the clock to check if the hands have ever moved or stopped for a bit.

My eyes will truly be grateful for that, for they won’t have to involuntarily open when they still want to get drunk with my dreams. I’d like to take everything slowly and savor every millisecond I have.

2. Enjoy every cup of coffee. Morning coffee is not much fun these days. There will always be those days that you have to empty a cup of coffee at once because you’re too scared that your young ones will grab it and wham, spill it over on your newly cleaned carpet. Or you are too concerned that they’ll get hurt (with the hot coffee and/or Mommy’s irrational shouting).

3. Soak in an aromatic bath (I might have a bath tub all ready by that time) with some sort of jazz music playing in the background. While my ears are indulging in the tunes of “Talk Is Cheap,” I might take a light nap in the bathroom (for as long as I want) with no worries about some kiddos barging in, screaming out that they can no longer hold on too long for their poop. But hubby will always be welcome to join in.

4. Movie marathon day and night. Hubby and I will feast on a wide array of movies, from RomComs to Sci-Fi to Fantasy — just not the dreaded scary ones. We can just eat popcorn the whole night while watching TV. Who cares? We’ll have no kids to worry about giving healthy snacks to anyway.

Or we can also go for reruns of TV shows, be it How I Met Your Mother, CSI or Game of Thrones. We won’t be concerned anymore with parental TV guidance since it will only be Mom and Dad watching—and it’ll be totally OK to watch more flesh on the tube.

5. Try gardening. This has been one of my frustrations since I’m really not a green thumb. The last time I was able to grow a plant was way back in my elementary days when we were required to plant and observe a bean’s growth everyday as noted in a chart. Luckily, it did survive (all thanks to my brother).

But it would really be a dream come true if I could grow some fruit trees in my backyard, a couple of green veggies, tomatoes and some organic stuff without worrying that at any minute they’ll be pulled out and stepped on by those little creatures called kids. A flowerbed on my front porch would be awesome to watch as well.

6. Throw out the washing basket. Really. I’m dead serious on this. My washing basket and I have always had this hate-hate relationship. It’s never been a love-hate one. I can barely remember the last time I saw my washing basket’s bottom. Whenever I see it, I can’t help but roll my eyes (seems like I’ve strained my cornea from doing it too often) and let out a damn deep sigh.

So I’d throw it out to liberate myself once and for all from that exhausting hate-hate relationship.

7. Shop around until the store closes. What a wonderful day that would be. Going to the grocery store would never be a lame excuse just to hire a babysitter (which mothers are all guilty of). Instead, it would be therapy. I won’t care where my feet take me, and not until they are sore will I finally give up.

There will be no kids waiting in the house or holding my skirt while I shop. I will completely own the grocery cart and finally win over that territory. Shut up and just take my money. Right now!

8. Own the bed as normal couples. There will be no more bed sharing with the whole gang. We will celebrate being able to sleep again right beside each other — not on the bed’s opposite sides. But I’ll definitely post a “No Snoring” sign. We will be able to cuddle and huddle (and you know what’s next) without any sudden bodily reflexes when the kids give out some “we’re only half-asleep” clues.

9. Travel far away with just a backpack. This is to remind ourselves that there are still other places to go aside from the park, grocery store, school, church and mall playhouses. We’ve been through these places regularly, and we know all their ins and outs.

Traveling to a foreign country or a bucket list place will be refreshing. Packing up won’t be a burden at all. What we’ll need for a week of vacation can all be squeezed in a backpack, and that’s what traveling should be.

10. Read a book every day. If you’re a mom who loves reading, you never get lucky enough to finish a book in 1-2 sittings, especially with needy little ones. You just find yourself reading a 300-page book for almost a month because TV seems to be working well when you have kids around.

By the time my kids are all grown up, I want to finally reward myself with good reads and have my own cozy nook just for reading. A little book hunting spree every month will keep me posted on what’s hot. Do I even need to say that I want my own library at home? Yes, that too. I’m now drooling.

But for now, I must savor these moments while the kids are still young and huggable. I need to remind myself that I have to wake up before six (thanks to my alarm clock), bathe for 3-5 minutes, watch Peppa Pig and Mother Goose Club and enjoy it with them, go grocery shopping with them, and doze off  almost everywhere in the house because I’m too damn tired to climb into bed.

I must admit, too, I love it when I’m sammiched between my kids on the bed and still get tight hugs, even if Mama has skipped a bath.

This post was originally published on ZKBuzyBuzz. 

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About the Author

Annabella is a mother of two adorable little stinkers who hopes to read more, write more and run more not because she hates her round figure but more on attaining a healthy lifestyle. You can laugh with her on her blog ZKBuzyBuzz, catch her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter for more rants, er , insights on parenting, motherhood, marriage and relationships.