Among my friends, I was always singled out as the one most likely to become a mom. I soon found out that marriage and motherhood are highly overrated when you’re a single girl. Some of the things I vowed I’d never do or get into are the same things that make up who I am as a mom today!

1. Give birth without painkillers.  During my own pregnancy, I looked like the model mom: cool, smiling, smartly attired. Inside, I was as secure as an ice cream cone on a hot stove: I was freaking out at the thought of giving birth. Naturally; my tolerance for pain on a scale of 1 to 10 is a measly 2! Good thing my OB-Gyn was able to coach me through a natural childbirth. Not only was I able to give birth without anesthesia, but I hardly felt any pain. So I can say for a fact that no matter how much you fear pain, giving birth is possible without pain—and without swearing at your husband!
 
2. Breastfeed my kid for more than one year. I was told that some Asians didn’t have the “well-endowed” genome in the mammary department. And so, I got semi-depressed whenever I’d see or hear my friends complain about their C and D cups while I had to content myself with a B. That is, until I bulged out into a D cup during my second month of motherhood. Breastfeeding was an empowering experience for me, albeit painful at times (especially when I went through mastitis, and I didn’t think I’d last as long as I have. My son is now 23 months, and though he’s been self-weaning from the boob, my milk is still here for him when he needs it.

3. Let my kid watch TV. I swore I’d keep the “no TV” rule until my kid was at least two years old. That is, until the day I first plopped him in front of the tube when he was barely a year old. And I’ve done so many more times, especially when I was too frazzled with chores or out of ideas to entertain him. The pay-off: At least I know that Sesame Street will be the perfect motif for his upcoming birthday party!

4. Use disposable diapers for my baby. My mom was the cloth diaper advocate even before all these new-fangled hybrids of cloth diapers started popping up. She ordered cloth diapers all the way from the Babies ‘R’ Us down the street from my uncle’s house - in California - just so her firstborn grandkid could experience natural diapering at its finest. I lasted about 3 months going exclusively cloth before giving in to disposables. They couldn’t be all that bad, especially when my time and sanity were on the line. (Note: I still use cloth diapers on my son, who’s now in the toilet-training phase, but I alternate between cloth and disposables now.)