Don't Take It For Granted

There's an expression that says "You don't know what you have until it's gone" and I believe it to be completely true with a lot of people.  In the Age of Entitlement that we currently live in, it seems that a lot of people simply aren't happy with what they have for very long.  If you have a 32" flat screen TV, you want the 60".  If you have the 3 bedroom, 2 bath house, you want the 4 bedroom 3 bath house with a basement.  If Jessica Biel gets a huge wedding ring then clearly your wedding ring is just not big enough or fancy enough anymore.  Even worse, there's a whole lot of "Well Susie Q's husband gives her foot massages every night...why don't YOU do that?" OR "Well SHE gets to work more ideal hours at HER job.  My job isn't nearly as good."  The grass is always greener, so to speak.
My biggest "I took it for granted" that I didn't realize until it was long gone was being a stay at home mom (freelancer but largely focused on stay at home mom-dom). There's a whole lot that I miss about it and, in a completely ideal world, I would have a job that allowed me to "work from home" and be a stay at home mom again.  So if you're taking it for granted, here are some of the great things about being a stay at home mom (and don't take this to mean there aren't perks to being a working mom too...one topic at a time).
1.  Time with the kids.  Pure and simple, time with the kids is the biggest benefit that I miss.  I definitely learned to prioritize my time with my kids as a working mama but I miss just being able to spend an entire day relaxing with the kids in my PJ's watching movies.  Sure, it didn't happen often but it was incredibly nice to be able to "wing it" a bit more with my time with the kids instead of having to plan it out.
2.  Exploring New Activities   That is a big vague but here's what I mean...I live in an incredible state with so many great outdoor activities and so much to see and do.  I read about all of these things and yet, I have to prioritize where I can go and to what activities I have the time to go to.  I would love to take my kids to Greek Festival or for a weekend at Rocky Mountain National Park just exploring.  I'd love to hike a 14'er with them or take them to the zoo more often to watch the baby animals grow.  There are so many things I'd like to do and I miss being able to use summer break for exploring....not just a couple of days of exploring.
3.  Time to Take My Time I miss just being able to take my time.  Everything is about scheduling from cleaning the house to going to the library to grocery shopping.  While I had to schedule when my kids were still nappers, it was a bit easier.  Now it's so complicated because there's so much more to cram into so much less time.
4.  Being With Them When They're Sick Yes, I know this doesn't sound appealing to a lot of people but it is something that I wish I could do again.  As a mom that works outside the home, I often don't have the flexibility to be able to be with them when they're sick.  While I appreciate the people who are there to help me out with them, there's nothing more in this world I want than to cuddle my little guys when they're sick.  I want to be the one that makes them feel better.
5.  Volunteering/Involvement  I miss being able to be the mom that's always at their school.  I miss being able to volunteer for all of the room parties and being a more active part of the PTA.  This is self-explanatory.
6.  The Ability to Let THEM be involved.  This is a sports/activities thing more than anything.  I want so badly to let them be involved in after-school sports and activities but money and time don't allow it currently.  I miss the ability to help this to be a possibility.
7.  Cooking from Scratch.  I miss having the extra time involved in cooking from scratch instead of pre-packaged things.  While I sometimes have the time for this now, I miss knowing that I could spend all day occasionally stirring the spaghetti sauce instead of worrying that I need to open a jar when I get home.  I took it for granted back then but it really is something I miss.
Of course, no one has 100% ideal and the grass is always greener to some extent.  These are just some of the things I miss and, if offered a job where I could be at home 95% of the time and spend more time with the kids while still making the money necessary to raise a family, etc, I'd be on it like a shark on a school of fish at feeding time.  If the powers that be decide to give me that privilege again, I know for certain I would not take it for granted this time around and I would make it count every second.  I guess my lesson in all of this is not to look at the neighbor's lawn (figuratively speaking) but to focus on making your lawn greener and more healthy no matter how meager it may seem to you.