Things That Are Just Harder When You Have Kids

Do you remember what life was like before you had kids? No driving to tennis lessons, no worrying about getting a babysitter, no responsibility for anyone but yourself...it's almost impossible to remember how easy things were before you decided to raise a little human.

Here are things that are just undeniably easier when you don't have children.

Moving To A New Place

Front view of a U-Haul moving truck in the parking lot of an apartment complex
Photo Credit: Smith Collection / Gado / Getty Images
Photo Credit: Smith Collection / Gado / Getty Images

When you have kids, you have to think about a lot of things before moving. How will they react to having their lives uprooted? Does the place have a nice backyard to play in?

ADVERTISEMENT

Traveling By Car

ADVERTISEMENT
Crying infant being strapped into a car seat
Photo Credit: Dayna Smith / for the Washington Post
Photo Credit: Dayna Smith / for the Washington Post
ADVERTISEMENT

Long drives are never particularly pleasant, but they're infinitely more challenging with children. Now you have small, screaming humans in the backseat fighting with each other and asking "are we there yet?" while you try to stay focused on the road.

ADVERTISEMENT

Traveling By Air

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
I asked to switch seats on a plane because I was sat next to a screaming baby. 
Apparently that's not allowed if the baby is yours.
Photo Credit: Twitter
Photo Credit: Twitter
ADVERTISEMENT

Kids are just generally terrible to travel with. They're fussy about every little thing that happens, and no parent wants to be the one with the screaming child on a flight.

ADVERTISEMENT

Grocery Shopping

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Baby smiling in shopping cart in grocery store
Photo Credit: Dennis Hallinan / Getty Images
Photo Credit: Dennis Hallinan / Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

I never realized how cumbersome it is to strap a kid into a car seat, drive to the grocery store, haul around a kid in the cart who tries to put all the foods in their mouth or begs for the sugary cereal, and then redo the whole car seat fiasco to go home.

ADVERTISEMENT

...Pretty Much Any Shopping, Really

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Child sitting on a shelf of large stuffed bears in a store
Photo Credit: China Photos / Getty Images
Photo Credit: China Photos / Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

Shopping with a child is pretty much the same as shopping with an untrained golden retriever that you're not allowed to keep on a leash despite its tendency to bolt unexpectedly.

ADVERTISEMENT

Enjoying Treats

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
man bites into a doughnut
Photo Credit: Tara Ziemba / Getty Images
Photo Credit: Tara Ziemba / Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

Before, it was simple: you wanted to eat an entire row of Oreos for dinner? Fine. However, now you're tasked with making sure a small human actually eats proper nutrients and develops healthy habits, so now you have to wait until the little gremlins sleep.

ADVERTISEMENT

Going To A Restaurant

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
we went out to a restaurant today and my 3 year-old had two questions for our server: 1) why are you a boy (she wasn't) and 2) how come you work here but you're a kid (she was short). Needless to say we left a very generous tip
Photo Credit: Twitter / @daddydoubts
Photo Credit: Twitter / @daddydoubts
ADVERTISEMENT

Kids at a restaurant are such nightmares. You have to go somewhere with foods the kids will actually eat, and then, when there, your kid never knows what they want to eat. You wish you'd just stayed home.

ADVERTISEMENT

Choosing A Vacation Destination

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Walt Disney World Resort Castle With fireworks
Photo Credit: Jacqueline Nell / Disneyland Resort via Getty Images
Photo Credit: Jacqueline Nell / Disneyland Resort via Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

You only have so many vacation days from work, so you want to make them count, but unfortunately, your kids won't find a trip galavanting through art museums in Europe interesting, so Disney World it is.

ADVERTISEMENT

Watching Television You Like

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Friends  gather in an apartment and watch
Photo Credit: Sebastian Willnow / picture alliance via Getty Images
Photo Credit: Sebastian Willnow / picture alliance via Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

At this point in parenthood, you would punch Peppa Pig in the face if you could. However, even when you're on the television, you have to wait until the kids are asleep to put on anything moderately graphic.

ADVERTISEMENT

Having Clothes

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
A girl participates in a spaghetti eating contest
Photo Credit: Liang Sen / Xinhua via Getty
Photo Credit: Liang Sen / Xinhua via Getty
ADVERTISEMENT

Kids have no regard for your wardrobe: they will puke, spill, and rub their snot on your most prized closet items. On top of that, they'll steal them for dress-up and destroy them.

ADVERTISEMENT

Seeing Your Friends

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
group of female friends having dinner together at restaurant
Photo Credit: Barbara Alper / Getty Images
Photo Credit: Barbara Alper / Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

Before, it was already kind of difficult to make sure you were seeing friends, but now it takes planning four months in advance, two reschedules, and a venue change or two to actually get together for a dinner party.

ADVERTISEMENT

Choosing A Place To Live

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
USA: map of the United States.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Photo Credit: Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

Before, you really only had to think about yourself and your spouse when choosing where to live. Now you have to factor in the local school system, what extracurricular activities are available, and other city features that never would have mattered to you before.

ADVERTISEMENT

Vacuuming

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
woman vacuuming
Photo Credit: YOSHIKAZU TSUNO / AFP via Getty Images
Photo Credit: YOSHIKAZU TSUNO / AFP via Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

Vacuuming the floors was already a pain when there were just two adults in the house, but now you have kids who like to leave Lego pieces, beads, school supplies, and other items on the floor to make the task much harder.

ADVERTISEMENT

Going To The Bathroom

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
I had to take Eliza in the bathroom stall with me. She screams
Photo Credit: Twitter / @ThePrattPack4
Photo Credit: Twitter / @ThePrattPack4
ADVERTISEMENT

I never appreciated the peace of using the washroom before having kids until I realized that, as a parent, even in that moment, a small human would come in and demand my attention.

ADVERTISEMENT

Working... Especially From Home

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Woman working on laptop at a messy table while her children to schoolwork
Photo Credit: OLI SCARFF / AFP via Getty Images
Photo Credit: OLI SCARFF / AFP via Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

You have to do a work function in the evening? Well, now you have to find a way to still get Timmy to piano lessons. In addition, working from home means that your kids will be hounding you in the middle of a meeting.

ADVERTISEMENT

Making Dinner

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Mother and daughter cooking.
Photo Credit: BSIP / Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Photo Credit: BSIP / Universal Images Group via Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

There are those days where you have no interest in really cooking, so you just eat a handful of grapes for dinner and call it a day. When you're responsible for little humans who are still growing, you always have to have a dinner plan.

ADVERTISEMENT

Relaxing

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
dad writes: i had to work overnight last night and while taking a nap today I was vandalized (photo of his face drawn on with marker). I have a picture and have detained the two suspects (young daughter and the dog) but one is not cooperating. The only one that can speak is blaming the four-legged suspect who has no hands to pull off such a stunt. Thanks for my neighbor for pointing out that I have marker all over my face when I took the dog for a walk before i realized I had been vandalized
Photo Credit: Reddit
Photo Credit: Reddit
ADVERTISEMENT

Committing to parenthood means that you're committing to at least 18 years of not knowing peace. You can never just kick back and relax or even slip in an afternoon nap again.

ADVERTISEMENT

Having A Quick Change Of Plans

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
day planner open
Photo Credit: Unsplash / Eric Rothermel
Photo Credit: Unsplash / Eric Rothermel
ADVERTISEMENT

It's so much easier to be flexible when you only have yourself to account for: switching things to another day, moving event times around, and other changes are much harder to adapt to when you're also managing children.

ADVERTISEMENT

Having A Date Night

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
man and woman chatting over dinner date
Photo Credit: Chris Hondros / Getty Images
Photo Credit: Chris Hondros / Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

Naturally, you want to keep the romantic spark alive between you and your spouse, and dates are a good way to do it, but it's much harder when you need to organize them around your kids' soccer/ballet/football/flute lessons and also secure a babysitter.

ADVERTISEMENT

Just Being In Public, Honestly

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
a boy cries during a picture session with Santa Claus inside a mall
Photo Credit: ROMEO GACAD / AFP via Getty Images
Photo Credit: ROMEO GACAD / AFP via Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

Taking kids out with you in public is a lot like playing a game of Minesweeper with your eyes closed: you never know when an explosion/tantrum is coming—there's no warning.

ADVERTISEMENT

Lying

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
woman in my train carriage smoothly telling the conductor that her son is traveling free because he's only four while the kid repeatedly yells:
Photo Credit: Reddit / Jokiat
Photo Credit: Reddit / Jokiat
ADVERTISEMENT

No one is going to snitch you out harder than your own kid. You'll be telling your neighbor that you're sorry that you couldn't make it to a barbecue on the weekend and your kid will be like, "Yeah, she said she'd rather die than go!"

ADVERTISEMENT

Keeping The House Clean

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
screen cap of kids' show with characters dumping sand on the floor singing
Photo Credit: Reddit / NeighborhoodTrolley
Photo Credit: Reddit / NeighborhoodTrolley
ADVERTISEMENT

Children are so messy and gross all the time. I can't even fathom how small human beings can create so much chaos in so little time, but they are always finding new ways to undo your cleaning efforts.

ADVERTISEMENT

Preparing Lunches

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Hello Kitty brand lunchboxes are on display for sale
Photo Credit: Mario Tama / Getty Images
Photo Credit: Mario Tama / Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

Worst-case scenario, if you didn't want to pack your lunch for work, you could go buy one. Kids require a fully prepared meal packed up for them on a daily basis.

ADVERTISEMENT

Literally Just Existing

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
A mother and her two children in a NYC apartment
Photo Credit: Lisa Wiltse /Corbis via Getty Images
Photo Credit: Lisa Wiltse /Corbis via Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

There's no denying it: life without kids is so much easier. You have much less responsibility to manage, you don't have to be accountable to anyone but yourself and your spouse, and it's easier to just do things on a whim.

ADVERTISEMENT

But, In The End, It's All Worth It

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
family holding hands walking through field
Photo Credit: Unsplash / Jessica Rockowitz
Photo Credit: Unsplash / Jessica Rockowitz
ADVERTISEMENT

Okay, so maybe we don't spend time with our family holding hands and frolicking through fields of wild grass, but despite all the difficulties involved in having kids, I would never trade my kids for anything.