Keep in touch with friends. This one is a biggie for me. How many women do you know that got married and had children only to leave their friends in the dust? Maybe you get an invite to their child’s birthday party or maybe an email with kid pictures, but as far as girls nights or the long chats, they were thrown right out like those crappy dirty diapers.

Delegate, you are the president of the company without the pay. Whether it’s leaving the kid with the other parent, your parents, family and friends, hired help or the gardener across the street that you’ve ran a background check on, make sure that you get a day or two to yourself regularly.

Make time for things you enjoy. Even if you have to put the kid in front of the boob tube to watch Noggin, read a book, play on the net or plan for an hour per week enjoying a favorite sport.

Forget the guilt trip. Afraid that your child will remember the time you left him/her to go off with friends or on a date night? Afraid that you will be labeled a bad parent because you don’t sign up for PTA, dress the child in mismatched socks or aren’t able to give your kids all you feel that they deserve in life? If that’s you, then forget the guilt. There’s something basic instinctual about guilt and parenthood, but the fact is, most of us do the best we can which is always pre-determined as never enough.

Forget the role. Right along with parenthood comes the role of perfection. We must be able to check all of the perfect parenthood boxes like making our child’s lives full of sweet memories, taking them on great vacations and if we don’t raise them bi-lingual we might as well be sending them out into the world missing a limb. We feel we must portray this greater than tho image and always wear the parent halo. Yet there’s something missing in that picture…maybe you? The greatest gift you can give your child is getting to know you, which means some of your imperfections as well.

Remind yourself of the bigger picture. You lived before children and you will live after. They will move out and move on with their lives quicker than the money they will take right out of your pocket. Unless you want to be one of those parents who is still calling “their child” at the age of 35 and reminding them to take their vitamin and eat their vegetables, then you may want to remind yourself of the facts.

I will the first to admit that with my first, I like most parents was enamored in my new role as a mother. But a few years into things, I later became resentful when I woke up one morning and forgot who I was before the 12 hour days, the Kodak moments and worrying about how I would possibly pay for their college. Parenthood is a role we play for a short period of time in a long life and cutting the cord isn’t just a one time deal.