Why maternity leave ROCKS!

Why didn't I decide to have a baby earlier? #Maternity leave is AWESOME! However, it hasn't been exactly what I'd imagined. Yes, I knew that becoming a mother would be #life changing and all that, blah blah blah but in the four months that I've been off work, a surprising number of things have remained the same.

The things I expected to gain from being away from the office were:

1. No more getting up early. I'd be able to have a lie in, due to being awoken by a little munchkin in the night.
2. No more filling 8 hours with mundane crap. I'd be able to hang out with my other mother mates.
3. No more spending lunch surrounded by the stench of shit (my office was located near to a water treatment centre, so depending on the direction of the wind...).
4. No more eating hideous canteen food or lugging supplies back from Tesco. I could cook at home or go to nice cafes.
5. No more commuter hell, as I could choose when to travel and whichever method of transport I deemed most suitable.
6. No more sitting inside on a sunny day. TAN
7. No more going to bed early on school nights (hmmm, not exactly sure I ever did that really, to be honest).

In fact the only downside I could foresee would be missing my work mates.

However, in reality a lot of the above issues remained:

1. My boyfriend is incapable of getting out of bed in the morning, without me showing him how it's done.
2. 8 hours of mundane crap? More like 12. OK, this is a bit unfair. Hanging out with my little homey is great fun, but housework isn't and I'm not used to doing so much of it. Dishes don't wash themselves, apparently. We might need to invest in this nifty gadget known as a dishwasher soon, although dishwashers don't load or unload themselves. Lazy sods!
3. Baby poo doesn't smell offensive. Is there something wrong with me?
4. Hideous canteen food is better than nothing at all. No, actually that's not true. Their food was REALLY bad.
5. I've exchanged train hell for the joy of tetris-packing the car for all eventualities. Plus it's time consuming to put the baby in the car seat, strap the carseat into the car. Then repeat in reverse. Multiple times. Obviously this can only occur when the baby is not too hungry, too tired, too hot, too cold or needing a nappy change to go out in the first place.
6. Babies can't go in the sun and seem to hate summer weather. Even dreary summers in England. They also hate their mums enjoying the sun.
7. Early nights are now amazing.

So what do I love about maternity leave? Well four months in and it seems to be going well. I've got different groups of friends that I can see on different days. Some have babies the same age, so we are learning together. Caring for our little ones has shown me how patient I can be and it's a real sense of achievement when things are going to plan. However small those things are.

What things?

Well, getting somewhere on time is a biggie. I'm doing pretty well at that at the moment. Go me!

Remembering to take the right stuff out with me, even though I can't remember things like my PIN code and have to use sign language when I forget names of things around the house. It's a real skill. I should put that on my CV.

Feeding myself. Getting to have lunch at all isn't guaranteed.

Staying awake. ALL DAY.

Keeping a smile on my face when I'm given 'suggestions' by experts. Well, not experts. People wanting to tell me what they did when raising their children.... 30 years ago.

Breastfeeding. Aaaah so worth it.

Expressing milk. Yes, I went there. Getting a good stash is sooooo pleasing. However, not getting a good stash can feel like the end of the world. I blame the post man interupting me.

Getting the baby to sleep without drama makes me feel like i'm finally 'getting it'.

Taking the perfect photo. You know the ones, where the baby is looking straight at camera and their arms and legs aren't a blur.

Staying calm.

Baking the occasional cake... and getting to eat it.

So, #maternity leave has been amazing so far. I'm learning a lot of new skills and really appreciating the little things. People say that this time goes so fast and to enjoy every minute. They're spot on with that advice! On top of celebrating every milestone I get to spend my days with my little one, who is happy and healthy and a joy to be around. I love my new #life so much. I'm just wondering how I'll cope when I have to return to work.