As every mother knows, we (unwisely) tend to put ourselves last on our “Things To Take Care Of” list

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t’s been a pretty busy Yom Tov/end-of-school-year season for all of us, and I haven’t been spared.

But after a few friends asked me where I’d traveled, saying it was a while since they’d seen me last, I realized that I’ve been more than busy; I’ve been MIA. I’ve had the same million errands and things to do as you’ve had as the seasons change and one Yom Tov and then another looms, and yet somehow it all took me longer than expected.

I have not been traveling. But amid day camp applications and pre-summer planning and Yom Tov preparations, I’d pushed off a necessary doctor’s appointment. When I finally sat in the doctor’s office a couple of days before Yom Tov, it had been a while since my last full checkup because as every mother knows, we (unwisely) tend to put ourselves last on our “Things To Take Care Of” list.

But I was finally there, ready to be asked routine questions by a man who’d obviously attended medical school, who sees dozens of patients a day, and who is clearly unprepared for who I am as a person as I try to fit this doctor’s visit into my very busy schedule.