One of the most annoying things I encounter as a stay-at-home mom are scheduling conflicts. It's amazing how un kid-friendly the world is. People don't seem to understand that when you provide 100% of your child's care, you're just not available on the drop of a hat. You can't "call out sick" and skip being a mom that day. You don't get personal days or vacations. You're a mom 24/7 and you're basically "at work" all day long.
Sure you can get the grocery shopping done (if you're brave) or run to the post office with kids, but even these seemingly simple tasks require preparation and planning. Having children is a full-time job with endless overtime, no pay and no benefits. People who aren't in that same situation don't seem to understand that you can't just slip out for a few minutes here or there to make an appointment.
For example, my dentist knows that I'm a stay-at-home parent and that I have to line up childcare for an appointment. They recently called me at 11am to ask if I could make it in that same day for a 1pm appointment because there was a cancellation. No, I can't. I have my kids and there's no way I can find someone to watch them at the drop of a hat like that. Being a stay-at-home mom I don't have a regular list of baby sitters, so it's not like I can just call someone up to come on over.
On the same note, I am not available during "regular business hours" to come do site inspections, fill out paperwork for hours on end or anything else that requires my children to be absent. I wish people would look at stay-at-home moms more like they look at everyone else and try to schedule appointments with us IN ADVANCE and during nights or weekends if at all possible. If you need my full and devoted attention, my kids can't come and you need to be available at times that I can make that possible. Period. End of story. If that's not the case, I don't need to do business with you.
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