What do you do when you need help?

[Carhootel]

Maybe I should post this in the sahm forum but I think I remember a thread about this a while ago and thought I'd ask here as well - I have had to get some dental work done recently and ds is no longer in the 'I'll sit in a bucket seat' phase. He's 11 months and wants to crawl and pull up on everything! What do I do? Take him with me and wrangle him the whole time - apologizing to doctors along the way? or.... what? keep asking for favors for people to come with me and watch him in the waiting room?

Now I have to get some bloodwork (and other stuff) done this weekend I don't know what to do with ds. He's SO full of energy these days and dh will be at work, my family who lives nearby all work and the other sahms I know will surely be busy with their own brood. I'm stumped!

[SeekingJoy]

You ask me. PM'd you.

[annekh23]

It's really tricky. When I've gone to see a doctor and unexpectedly had a blood draw or x-ray, the nurses etc have been very accomodating, but that's not the same as going and knowing those things are going to happen and expecting people to help out.

Even when you have people who can help out you still have to juggle getting them and the child in the same place!

I feel like I am always asking and never giving back, I offer, but details like where we live come into it. I have one friend who occassionally picks my DS up after school, because both our kids go to out of area schools and the one mine goes to happens to be the one her kids would go to, so she lives right by it, but much as DS would love a play date with her son and I'd happily watch him the times and locations are pretty much doomed.

DH has a job where he can work from home, as long as he doesn't have to be in a meeting or something, without that, I don't know what I'd do.

[claddaghmom]

I might consider bringing DD to such a place depending on the type of place. Some dental offices I have been too are really family friendly.

Otherwise, I rely on my family. After all those years of babysitting....it's payback time, baby!

[BeckiB]

My other SAHM friends are always willing to watch one more... We take turns.

[Alisse]

A place like a dental office is usually very sensitive to issues of time and also isn't the sort of place that you can expect staff to babysit unfortunately. As well, do you really want the person working on you to get stressed out because of the little wee one? I'd find someone to babysit, whether it's with you or not.

[Biscuits & Gravy]

Originally Posted by SeekingJoy

You ask me. PM'd you.

Or me! We may be busy with our own brood, but not too busy to help a friend. Seriously.

[lifeguard]

Most things I bring ds - my doctor's appointments, blood draws (even once when I had to be there for an hour between draws - that was long), but I honestly don't know that I would try at a dentist's - there is just too much to get into & you're pretty tied down during a dentist exam.

Do you have another sahm you could trade a day or half day with? Can you partner take half a day off?