I still feel like a "new" parent. I guess I am, compared to others. My baby is almost 18 months old. She wasn’t a “planned” baby, but not a surprise either, the only reason I mention that is because it helps give perspective. We had plans, dreams, hopes, etc. And like you… we found a lot of that changed once we had a baby. But there’s also good news: It doesn’t mean you have to give it all up. Things will change with this new chapter in your life, and you may have to rearrange your priorities, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up on anything, it just might mean you have to be a little more patient. That’s hard sometimes, but it’s just something we have to do. If it isn’t a child, it would be because of something else (house needs major repairs, car broke down, family member got sick, whatever…). I wouldn’t necessarily say it gets “easier”, but you get used to it, and you just learn to go with it. We’ve explored “creative financing” to make ends meet (especially while my husband was between jobs and all the cars decided to require repairs…), and had great success. Simple things like shopping on craigslist for items that don’t need to be new, growing what food we can, cooking from scratch and using what we have (keep a few basic items on hand in bulk, go shopping as needed), etc. We’ve picked up a few odd jobs here and there to make a little extra supplemental income. We’ve learned how to involve the baby in the daily chores and extra outings so we can make time to do what we want and need to do. It’s a learning process, and there’s no one single way to do it. What works for me won’t work for you, and vice versa. So you learn what you can do in your situation, and make it work. If it doesn’t work, you re-examine, alter a few things, and try again. And you keep trying until you get it right.
I have to say – I’m a little jealous you have an acre!!! We have just a little over a half acre, and though it’s enough for now, we are pining for the day we can “upgrade” to a bigger property. One of my dreams is to be mostly self-sufficient. Right now we are “practicing”, and doing pretty well for such a small plot, but I can’t wait until we can do more.