Bungle in the jungle

You might have heard that parenthood changes people's preferences and interests. Adventure-seekers become homebodies. Clubgoers become homebodies. Social butterflies become...hrm, a pattern emerges.

Ok, so a lot of new parents spend a more time at home (though not always by choice). The young'uns need a lot of sleep, and the best sleep tends to happen at home, in a crib (or for E's first four months, a swing, but whatever).

More has changed for me than my tendency to stay at home a lot and only occasionally wear pants that need to be buttoned. Here are some other notable changes.

Cleaning and organizing
I don't know if this change has occurred because I spend more time at home, but I am much more interested in keeping a clean house than I used to be. I have even been known to vacuum on a weekly basis. To some, I am slacking, and to others, I am a housecleaning goddess. I think I still fall somewhere in the middle but am much closer to goddess status than I used to be.

On the other hand, some of my useless organizational habits have fallen by the wayside. It's true: the contents of my underwear drawer are no longer folded and organized as neatly as before. Shocking, I know. And that's not all, either. I find that I am able to ignore other projects of an organizational manner without feeling even the slightest hint of guilt. Hey, my life is busy. Reordering the carton of wrapping paper is going to have to wait.

Spending habits
Before E, an objective person might have observed the debits in my personal checking account and wondered whether I had enough clothing already. The answer, of course, would be no, and I question the objectivity of any person who thinks that "enough" is an acceptable adjective for clothing.

That said, my clothing purchases dropped off almost entirely after E's birth, and they have not regained their pre-E momentum. Unfortunately, I am not banking mad cheddar, as my spending has not been reduced. I just spend differently.

Specifically, I spend more on items that I can enjoy at home, such as books and music. I still like being fashionable, but dressing smashingly at home by myself is simply not as appealing as immersing myself in a good book. (Latest fav: Rules of Civility. Dreamy all around.)


(I know I should have a third category/example, but it's been a long week and I'm tired. Let's just say that my eyebrows have become a bit jungly, and I don't care.)