As I was growing up, I thought mothers had it all together. They didn’t have all the headache and hassle I did dealing with a laundry list of rules – they made the rules. Sure, they had bills to pay and something they called responsibility, but they lived the good life. Back then I couldn’t wait for my chance to live the good life.

What I didn’t realize was that motherhood wouldn’t be all that different than my life B.C (before children). In fact, my life A.D (after delivery) really just put a sick twist on life as I knew it.

B.C.: My friends and I stood in line for several hours to get the best seats at the Bush concert. It was worth it to be able to see Gavin Rossdale dreamily sing to us.

A.D.: 85 strangers and I waited 13 hours in near freezing rain to get our children into a before and after care program at school. It was worth it to keep my 5-year-old from riding a school bus to a daycare center.

B.C.: In middle school, I would leave home in an approved outfit, but I hid cool clothes in my backpack and changed in the bathroom at school.

A.D.: I keep an extra shirt with me just in case I find spit-up, snot or leaking breast milk on me.

B.C.: In college, my days were long and nights were longer. My days were full of classes and my nights were full of parties or newspaper productions that carried me right into the next morning.

A.D.: My days are still long and my nights seem even longer. Spreadsheets, Access queries and meetings dominate my day and a teething cranky baby carries me right into the next morning.

B.C.: My heart raced when a letter from school came home. I was generally a good kid, but I was always afraid that letter meant certain doom and many weekends confined to my room.

A.D.: My heart races every time a letter or e-mail comes from school. My mind races through the many scenarios of my daughter’s shenanigans. The only difference is that I can throw it away without telling my dad, and I won’t be in trouble.

B.C.: Weekend plans consisted of last minute concocted stories of school projects and fake calls from a friend’s “parents”.

A.D.: Weekend plans require extensive planning and are consumed with to-do lists, grocery lists, first grade homework and occasional house work.

B.C.: In the sixth grade, I wanted to even the playing field with the girls who were a little bustier than I was. The trick was getting both sides even and to make sure they weren’t lumpy.

A.D.: Last week, I stuffed my bra with toilet paper because I forgot nursing pads. The trick was still trying to get both sides even and not lumpy.

As they say, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Don’t get me wrong, I have my moments in the good-life. I get to make the rules now and secretly laugh when Adley rolls her eyes. What has changed is my interpretation of the good life. I now realize it is grandmothers who live the good life.

Cat Koehler is married with two children. She works full-time.