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Having fun used to be my number one priority. Now it's survival.

Before I became a mom before I moved away from home and had any responsibility whatsoever I had fun. I'd spend my paycheck on whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I had no problem signing my life away when I wanted a new car, or buying myself a $900 waterbed, or a $90 pair of jeans. If I wanted fast food for lunch but only had a few bucks left, so what! I didn't have to share with anybody.

My-oh-my how things change when we dive into parenthood! Nowadays, I'm lucky to even see my paycheck let alone choose what I want to spend it on (unless I'm choosing between paying a bill and feeding my family.)

I guess when our responsibilities change, it's inevitable that our priorities are going to shift as well.

No longer could I spend such an ungodly amount of money on a pair of jeans. In fact, I can't remember the last time I bought myself new jeans at all. Or new anything else for that matter! That's because *I* am no longer my top priority. My family comes first. Their happiness, their health, their needs being met those are my top priorities. My main concern is the precious child God entrusted me with. I am constantly striving to be a better parent, and that often means making yet another sacrifice. I want to give my daughter the world and everything in it, but it's not mine to give. So all I can do is teach her to believe in herself and work hard for what she wants. These are values that were never taught to me as a child, so I know how important it is to enforce them upon her now.

In order to have a happy, healthy relationship with my little girl, I had to give up so many things and make so many changes. The free time I always took for granted is gone. Spare change? No. Not after my preteen comes home from school with the weekly fundraising catalog.

Before you become a parent, giving up your last $8.00 to buy a horse head-pencil sharpener from a magazine sounds like the most ridiculous thing ever. But once you have a child of your own, not only is the pencil sharpener adorable, but you can't possibly imagine spending that money on anything else!

It's not easy, becoming a parent and altering your lifestyle. But it sure is worth it.

Learn more about this author, Holly Haverstick.
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