Life
I could write countless (countless!) things about the benefits of staying home with your kids: sweatpants for everyone (if any pants at all), access to their own toys and books, having everyone’s favorite foods within reach, the couch, not having to deal with traffic or crowds or the elements, not having to change a diaper on one of those plastic things in public bathrooms. It’s so tempting, it’s no wonder that many of us often find ourselves giving in to the urge and staying home.
I would venture to say that it happens to all of us when you have a little one. First, it’s actually impossible to go out when they're a newborn. Later, it becomes challenging, but doable. Soon enough, going out is merely "complex but manageable." And eventually, it just becomes easy enough that you remember what you knew before you ever had a kid: going out is a pain that you want to avoid as much as possible. Like, how did you forget how often you used to secretly hope that plans would get cancelled so you could sit on your ass on the couch all night like you really wanted to?
I was a homebody before I had a baby and this tendency exponentially multiplied with the arrival of my son, so I’m kind of an expert on this phenomenon. If there weren’t a couple parks and two coffee shops within walking distance of my house, I would probably have become one of those hermit people long ago. Thankfully, I have a partner who stays super active and keeps me from getting too stuck in a rut (a cozy rut, but still). That said, my son is approaching his second birthday (gulp) and I've still yet to fully recover my social life. Here’s how you know you might be in the same boat: