It's the little things

A non-exhaustive list of some things that parenthood has made me appreciate:

Close parking spots. I used to make fun of those parking-space stalkers. Are you really that lazy, people? No wonder there's an obesity problem in the United States! Don't you realize it's taking you longer to wait for that lady to get her groceries loaded than it would to walk from that other space, right over there!?. I'm not at the stalker-level yet, but I will now drive those extra few yards to get to that close spot. I'm sorry that I made fun of you, people. You had 3 kids in tow. Or maybe you were missing a leg. Or were missing a leg and had three kids in tow. Or maybe you just had a 10 month old and a purse and car keys and a shopping cart liner.

Bagged salad.

Buildings with automatically opening doors that allow me and Harrison to enter without being crushed by heavy doors, necessitating the Jaws of Life to be employed in order to extract us from the twisted stroller-human wreckage that remains.

People who exercise common courtesy and stay behind to hold the door when it isn't automatic—there are too few of them. Hello?!?! Yes, I saw you turn around, look right at us, and keep going through the door, you bastard!?!?! (See Jaws of Life observation above.)

Starting the day early and enjoying every last bit of sun that it has to offer—one of the benefits to waking up at 5:50 AM. Your mom was right, Karen. I'm sorry that I always made fun of you in high school when I was sleeping until 1 or 2 PM and your Mom made you wake up at 8 AM every Saturday and Sunday and during the whole summer break. Actually, I'm not sorry. HA! HA! THAT WAS LAME!

Drive-throughs of any sort because they allow me to run errands with Harrison without having to strap and unstrap him into and out of the carseat. For example, drive-through pharmacy pickup windows, ATMs, and postal boxes. Oh, and brew-thrus—Just throw the keg in the back next to the diaper bag and hand me the funnel!

And finally…

Walmart Supercenters and frozen entrees.

Just kidding. I'm not that desperate for convenience yet, but check back whenever Baby #2 comes along…