The Off-Limits Rule

by Sarah Adams

because my son’s cheeks are so chunky and round you can’t help but dissolve into a pool of wobbly Jell-O when he smiles at you.

Did I mention I’m deathly afraid of heights? So afraid that I even avoid the glass railings on the second floor of the mall.

Somewhere along the line in my life, I stopped jumping. It’s time to start again.

it’s a job I like, but it will never be what fills me up, and I’m okay with that. I don’t think everyone is meant to have a career that changes the world. Sometimes you’ve just gotta pay the bills and then clock out so you can get to the life you love the most,

no matter how hard I try to believe in myself, there’s still a voice that whispers, You don’t have anything to offer.

because sometimes I can’t help but say what’s in my head. It’s my superpower and my curse.

I think there’s a stigma that comes along with being a mom, and when you’re young like me, it’s confusing. I should be in my prime, thriving, and…attractive. Instead, at least three times a day, I have to remove a stain from my shirt that Levi left behind. It’s like earning the title of Mom immediately zapped all the attractiveness right out of me.”

Being a mom is kind of weird. One minute, you’re begging a sitter to take your terrible/snotty/sleepless kid off your hands, then five minutes after they’re gone, you find yourself misty-eyed, staring at pictures you took yesterday of that darling/angelic/precious child and wondering if it’s too soon to go pick them up.

“I can’t help but worry. I’m a mom—it’s what we do.”

This is the kind of smile from my son that I live for.

Normal is exhausting.

happy. Is this why all my friends with girlfriends and wives always disappear? I thought it was because their women wouldn’t let them go out anymore. Turns out, it’s that the men don’t want to leave.

you don’t have to stop being yourself in life just because you have a kid—you just have to edit things for a bit.

I sigh a breath of relief because I freaking did it. I birthed this child, and it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I did it! Me. And I love this little squish ball more than anything. He’s worth all the pain.

Pregnancy hormones should never be underestimated.

Didn’t realize how much I had dimmed my light, forgotten to do things for myself, fallen into a contented slumber

They say if a plane starts to go down, adults need to pull on their masks first so they can then take care of the children. I had forgotten to pull my mask on.

even though her beauty is different than mine, it doesn’t mean mine is less than hers

Kids have this way of making you want to rip your hair out one minute, then snuggle them up and never let them go the next.”

I can barely breathe with his weight on me like this, but to say I love it would be an understatement.

since the day I met you, you’re all I think about, and I’m helpless to do anything about it.”

His hand flexes like the sexiest scene ever filmed (aka the Darcy hand flex from Pride and Prejudice…you know what I’m talking about) and the room heats to eighty million degrees.