Adventures in Parenting

While at Kaiser for a check up, my doctor and I chatted about our families.

“Ever since I was little, I always wanted to be a doctor, ” my doctor tells me.

She is a mother of two girls, ages 5 and 7. After her first daughter was born, she cut down her schedule to working four days instead of five. While she admits that her girls would be better off with her at home instead of with the nanny, she doesn’t want to give up her job to stay home with her girls.

“My husband is a doctor too, so it’s not the money. I can’t give up my years of training and my childhood dream of helping people.”

We all have dreams. I dreamt of being a top producing real estate agent making lots of money, and buying up investment properties. I dreamt of traveling the world to work in foreign countries.

But when I had kids, my priorities changed.

As our stage of life changes, so does what we deem as important.

The most important thing to my 13-year-old right now is getting a Domo plushie (they are ridiculously expensive!)

There is nothing wrong in realizing that what once was important to us is no longer a top priority. An important part, yes, but does it deserve the top spot along with your own flesh and blood?

My doctor says she doesn’t want to cut down her schedule anymore then she already has.

But she did make a cut, just in a different place.