Look at what I’ve done for you

We’re down to the final two weeks. Now, it’s just a waiting game, which is incredibly unnerving for someone like me who thrives on planning and structure. But unfortunately, babies don’t really give any hints as to when they might like to make their grand entrance.

I have been thinking about some of the things I’ve given up during my pregnancy. I thought it might be nice to compile a list, giving me something to pull out when my daughter is, say 8 years old and won’t clean her room, or is 16 and tries to back talk. I can pull these out of the mom guilt closet:

• I cut back on caffeine, going to Starbucks only once a week or less.
• My exercise routine went downhill in a big way because I either felt too ill, tired or fat to do anything.
• I gained 30 pounds.
• I stopped wearing high heels. I’m the person who sacrifices comfort for style and is drawn to the highest heels I can find. This was a biggie.
• I scaled back on some extracurricular activities and volunteer work.
• I traded in normal clothes for a limited wardrobe of elastic-waist pants and unexciting tops.
• I shed a lot of tears worrying about whether I’ll be a good mother.
•I didn’t eat hotdogs or blue cheese salad dressing for months.

I think that’s a good starting point. Surely some of those will inspire a child to clean her room or whip a teenager into shape. Well, at least I can try.