Heather C Heather C is a married, mom of three: big sis Lily and identical twins Natalie and Sophia. She has been guest blogging for Mumbling Mommy since February of 2012 and began working as a Social Media Editor in 2014. After nearly a decade in banking, she now works part time at a doctor's office specializing in breastfeeding medicine and spends the rest of her days in her Midwest home as zookeeper/stay-at-home-mom. Heather C is also a runner, hiker, yogi, bike rider and more. She reads when she finds more than a few minutes to herself and she hosts a lot of pajama dance parties in her kitchen. In her spare time, she's the co-leader for her daughter's Girl Scout troop and an active member of the school's Parent-Teacher Committee as well as a certified postpartum doula.

Let’s face it: Kids have a tendency to make nice things not so nice anymore. They can break a new toy within minutes of playing with it for the first time. They can stain a new carpet without even trying. They miss the toilet. They color outside the lines. They drop crumbs. They track mud. They are kids. This mess is just part of the territory. This makes buying new things after kids are born, much harder.

Example: We have a big, fluffy, not-very-comfortable anymore, olive green microfiber couch. We purchased it in 2005 the first time we decorated our living room two homes ago. It’s been jumped on, slept on, spit up on, and peed on. Guests have stayed the night on it. Hubby and I have … you know. The poor couch is nearing the end of its life. Are we in the market to buy a new one, though? Nope. Not even considering it. We have kids. We use Pinterest tricks to keep it clean, smelling fresh and looking at least mostly nice. We will get a new couch eventually, yes. But we most certainly won’t be buying one with two 3-year-olds and a 5-year-old running around.

Buying New Things After Kids are Around

 This isn’t to say, though, that everything in our house is in poor condition, outdated, and trashed. We have a lot of nice things. We pick and choose our battles. Our kitchen table is well loved but not destroyed. Our TV is not the newest technology but is still a large, good quality flat screen. Even though, yes, kids break blinds often, we still have those nice 2-inch wood slat kind. And now, we have a gorgeous new bamboo queen bedroom set, too.

As parents, we often spoil our kids first and ourselves never. We did this for a decade. Every year at Christmas, the kids all got plenty and we used the money to pay off debt instead of buying for each other. This system worked. We didn’t feel jaded. We knew there was a goal in mind. And this past year, we saw that goal through when living frugally finally paid off and we were able to buy our dream house. Now that we’re living in our dream house, we find many of our “kid loved” things aren’t quite up to par yet. We aren’t going crazy replacing everything (Remember the couch story?) but we have embraced a new phase in our lives, when spoiling ourselves rises in priority.

Let yourself get there, too. It’s okay to not rush. It’s okay if you aren’t quite even ready yet, but let yourself spoil the adults in the house again. It will feel good. You won’t regret it. And I promise, your kids won’t ruin everything in the house.

Buying new things after kids are born? What’s first on your list?

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Category: Family Finances

Tags: dream house