1. You get smarter. Sure, college broadened my interests in various subjects, and helped me to grow in my chosen field of study. Being married has taught me how to live in-tune with another complex human being. But being a mom has helped me organize, and problem-solve faster than I could before. When you have a little ball of chaos constantly threatening order you learn to identify the key factors, take variables into account, and execute more quickly. It’s like I can divide how many hours of running errands  by how many stops, and arrive to a perfect number of diapers, crackers, and fruit snacks to put in my purse.