Things Taken For Granted

There are many things that we take for granted in our lives and I think many of those come to light when we have children. I think most mom's would agree that prior to kids we had taken it for granted being able to run into the grocery store for a gallon of milk and knew that it would take 2 minutes. With kids, it takes 10 minutes. We used to go to the movies every weekend before having Ethan, now we go once every few months. I took for granted the ease with which I could go to the doctor's or get my hair cut or go to the gym. Prior to having children, I had not thought of what it would mean that we didn't have any family living near us. I had thought about the fact that the kids would not know their grandparents or aunt's or other relatives that well. But I had not realized that not having family locally would mean that I would have to rely on paid babysitter's or my husband for when I needed to go to the doctor or get a hair cut. Over the past few months I have had to reschedule my dentist appointment 4 times because I could not get a sitter (the one who said they would watch them whose name starts with G kept backing out:) By the third time I was so embarassed to have to call and reschedule that I called when I knew the office was closed and left a message:) My gyn. wants to do some testing and an ultrasound and may ultimately want to do a uterine procedure. I had scheduled the tests and also threw in a haircut all on the same day but now have to call and cancel due to lack of a sitter (and these are most definitely appointments I will not drag the kids to). This is what prompted my thoughts on what I had taken for granted in the past. And so the moral of the story is...for those who do have family who live locally and who help out regularly--don't take it for granted!:) And hopefully my dentist (who attends my church by the way) will forgive me one day:)