Cleaning the Garage

You know you're not single anymore...when you spend the day cleaning out your garage and you realize the amount of stuff you've accumulated with a family of four is astounding...Your garage used to have every tool put in a specific place and you knew where everything belonged...You even had a trash recycling area for plastics and papers...but now, you're lucky to find a hammer somewhere or maybe the ladder is in the garage somewhere...It's not that everything is messy, it's just that several people now use stuff and it does not always get back to where it came from...But now you've spent a day to organize...and you give it one month before you might have to consider another organization day again!

Eye Doctor

You know you're not single anymore...when you take your son to the eye doctor to get a new prescription for glasses...Of course you end up looking not just for one pair of glasses, but rather two pairs, one in the form of sports glasses...You remember playing sports as a kid and not worrying about special glasses but that's not what kids do today...Instead everything has it's place and purpose and it seems the purpose is to make sure you don't have any money in your wallet...You're just glad that the prescription will hopefully last for 6 months and maybe a year if you are lucky!

Generational Parenting

You know you're not single anymore...when your kids change their minds so easily that you finally tell them "whatever you decide now is what the decision will be!"...You realize you have done the unthinkable, the one thing you told yourself you would never do, but yet you are there...You are becoming your parents and not the part you have come to look back and respect after all these years!...Specifically, all those sayings that you would roll your eyes when your parents were not watching you are now saying them back to your kids...and you know your kids are rolling their eyes when you are not watching when you say them....because you did the same way back when...which ultimately means your parents knew you were rolling your eyes because they must have rolled their eyes the same way with your grandparents!...This is a time-honored tradition that must be passed down from one generation to the next...I guess the next thing you'll be telling your kids is "because I told you so!"

Filing Taxes

You know you're not single anymore...when you get to file your taxes as "married filing jointly"...You realize doing your taxes has taken three times as long as you used to file because you have to read all the tax bulletins to make sure you are doing everything correctly...You wonder who writes these tax bulletins and whether you can use them as a cure for insomnia!...You are glad to find new adjustments to your income (such as moving expenses) and new deductions (so that's what dependents can do to your tax base!)...At least you are glad you are getting a return this year...just in time to spend it on summer vacation!

Cooking at Home

You know you're not single anymore...when you cook dinners at home about 20 times the number of times you used to cook dinner per year...You remember when you would have your biannual meals at home...one was spaghetti and meatballs....the other was barbecue chicken on the grill...Otherwise, you lived at the local restaurants each night...Now you've picked up at least six more meals to serve and most of the time you get a favorable response from your kids, you figure the pickiest food critics...You've learn to love the days when there are no leftovers after your meals...when you were single you used to eat your leftovers for at least three more meals!

Nose Bleed

You know you're not single anymore...when your son has a severe nose bleed and without hesitating you help him out even though his blood starts to get on you...In the past when you dealt with any other kid, you would put on a surgical mask and gloves to hand out a band-aid...Yet now you don't hesitate to take care of anything your family needs help with especially in the realm of health needs...Although you are grateful the kids are well beyond the age of snot, diapers, and not making it to the toilet before throwing up!