When you become a parent you have all of these realizations about what exactly our parents did for us. After spending half of the afternoon fielding calls from the school nurse, doctors office, health department, and family about my sick but (hopefully) on the mend children, I am at a new realization about parenting. Typically the first realization you have when you become a parent and you're running on two hours of sleep for the fourth day in a row, you find baby poop in your hair, you realize "my parents did this for me. I better thank them." Ultimately you forget to thank them because you're so damn tired. Throughout the years, there's numerous little realizations that we forget to be thankful for.
This afternoon I sat on the phone answering question after question from the school nurse. While it was not fun for me at all, big kudos to her for trying to keep the other kids from getting sick. I'm pleased to see a school nurse take her job and the health of the students seriously. In answering these questions, I remember a time when I got really sick in third grade. I had to miss two weeks of school, go to the doctor numerous times, and I'm sure I was a bear to be around because what kid isn't when they don't feel good. It was at that exact moment, between answer questions from the school nurse that I had just been asked by the health department (fun part of having a daycare and having kids tested for parasites) and remembering my own childhood illnesses that I realized: my parents did this for me. As I've been bitching about the sick kids and endless calls I've had to make, my parents did the same for me. I'm sure my mom spent a morning at the pediatrician making sure all of the correct tests were run, the nurse was on top of sending the correct records (ok, that may be my own healthcare expertise playing in there), and then an afternoon on the phone with the school nurse answering all of the school's questions about what's going on and how the child is doing. All I remember about getting sick and missing school is being at home, being taken care of, and sleeping in my bed (I more so remember what it was like to sleep...aahhh, sleep). As a kid, you tend to overlook all of the important details parents oversee. So, as I sit here still stressed by my sick children, I would like to offer a hand of gratitude to my parents and all of the parents out there. Thank you for what you do and have done. Thank you for all of the days taken off of work, all of the doctor's appointments, all of the noodle soups, all of the poop clean ups, messes on the floor, dinners that were made but refused to be eaten, making sure there were clean sheets after getting sick, soaks in the tub, calls into the school and doctor's office, but mostly, thank you for teaching me "ya gotta do what ya gotta do."
