How things change over time

I have noticed, as I have had children, and my children get older, how my ideas of things have changed. 1) Sleep: When our children are babies, 2-3 hours of sleep becomes the norm. Anything over 3 hours is a miracle! And we talk about how great our baby slept. 2) Date Night: As soon as we started having children, our idea of date night completely shifted. We used to go to dinner and a movie, or mini golf, or bowling, or basically anything out of the house. Our idea of a date night now? Watching a movie on netflix after the children have gone to sleep. Or just talking to each other about our day (again, after the children are asleep). 3) Cooking: Since having children, I have had to be more creative in my cooking. We used to be able to afford to go out whenever we wanted if we didn't feel like cooking. Or even buying food that was pretty much made and we just had to add a few ingredients, or heat up. Fortunately, my mom was very smart and taught us how to cook while we were growing up. But, I have had to learn how to cook more from scratch, and find new recipes to keep things interesting (because basically I get bored of the same foods all the time). 4) Cleanliness: Before we had any children, I would freak out at the slightest bit of dirt on my floor. I was a little bit OCD about cleanliness. However, if you have known me since I have had children, you would probably never believe that about me. When my oldest was a baby, it took me a while to adjust to the new life of having another person to clean up after. He couldn't clean up after himself very easily, so it was up to me (and my hubby of course). It took us a little while to settle into a new routine of trying to keep a clean house while both working full-time, and being completely exhausted by the time we came home, and wanting to spend every second we could as a little family, because we just didn't get much time together. We went through many different cleaning ideas, and finally found one that works...most of the time. However, with each baby, we had to adjust all over again. And now, we are in a new phase of our parenting. Our 2 oldest now have jobs around the house, which include cleaning. I have now decided when it is one of my children's turn to clean a room, it does not have to be spotless. I do not need to have a panic attack when there is still a little dirt on the floor after they have swept of vacuumed. As long as they did their best, I turn away, and clean it my way when it is my turn to clean that room.