Dear doctor, lab tech, chiropractor, dentist, (anyone that makes appointments),
When I schedule my appointment with you, I have to work around your availability and fit it into my own. It is not always a perfect fit, but I understand that you can’t perfectly accommodate to each individual person. I get it, so I’m flexible. I take the time that works the best for my schedule and I rearrange things as needed.
I value and respect your time, so I plan on being early to all of my appointments. That way, if something happens- the dog decides to get sick just as I’m walking out the door, or the baby has a pooptastrophy and I have to go back in, or I get a flat tire, or there’s horrible traffic- I’ll still be on time. I plan to be there early because if I plan to be on time, I might be late. I plan my life around not being late, because I value your time.
If I am going to be late- which is extremely rare- I call to tell you that I am going to be late (which really means I’ll be on time, which is late in my world). It literally causes me so much stress to know that someone is waiting on me when we had a scheduled time. So, in those rare instances, please don’t be snarky on the phone with me, please be appreciative that I called when so many others don’t. Please just say “thank you for calling and we’ll see you when you get here”.
Please provide me with just half of the same courtesy that I provide to you. Please see me on time. I am not asking to be seen early, just on time. When I show up early out of respect to you, and you don’t see me until well after the appointment time, don’t forget how long you are making me wait. Please value my time. I might be just a mom, but my time is valuable- even more so now that I am a mom.
I used to sit quietly and wait and wait. I would get frustrated that you aren’t valuing my time, but I would still sit quietly and wait. Now, my 6 month old baby does the screaming for me. When you make us wait (and yes she will be with me), she has the potential to be very upset about it. There’s not much you can do to calm a baby when they are upset because we should have been home for nap time by now, and we haven’t even been called back for our appointment yet.
My baby’s schedule doesn’t just change because you can’t be on time for our appointment. I can’t explain to my 6 month old baby that her nap is going to have to wait, but it’s coming soon. I can’t ask her to be patient. She doesn’t understand that. But you know what she does understand? She understands when she doesn’t get her nap on time. She understands that her nap is late. She understands the concept of late- and she has every right to be upset about that.
So when you don’t have the courtesy to see me on time, or to call and tell me to show up later because you are running behind today, please expect my baby to be upset with that. Please get over it when my baby is crying and I can’t do anything about it because you need me to be still and hold my breath. Please don’t roll your eyes at me or make any remarks. Please just see me on time next time.
I am a mom and my time is so valuable. Every five minutes in my world is a big deal. You can push lunch out and have no repercussions- if I push lunch out I have a screaming baby on my hands. You can tell someone they can’t come in for their appointment because they were too late, and you charge them anyways. And I? I just have to sit and wait for you to finally call me back for my appointment.
Please value my time. Please respect my time. Don’t assume that five minutes isn’t a big deal, and that 20/30 minutes is an average wait time, so it’s ok. See me on time. I will continue to do you the courtesy of showing up early because that’s who I am, and that’s what I want to teach my daughter. Just show me half of that courtesy and have the appointment be on time or call me if you are running late. Please.