“Great parenting!”
That’s what the pediatrician we saw this morning said to me. Sarcastically.
Last week, we took a turn back into Tantrumville. Annalyn started the day after Halloween with a whopper of an ugly fit. So when she started Friday morning crying and whining about feeling dizzy, I felt fairly certain she was lying and sent her to school anyway.
Hence the pediatrician’s derision for my parenting skills. Although, it turns out he also was less than impressed with my admission that we don’t currently have a working thermometer.
For the record I picked her up early on Friday, kept her home on Sunday and took her to the doctor first thing this morning. (She acted completely healthy on Saturday, when we went to Legoland for her belated birthday date with a friend. For the record.)
But the truth is: I am a terrible nurse.
Much as I love my family (and I do. I do!), I get thoroughly annoyed at them when they’re sick. I’m not the most patient person to start with, and you add in a whiny, wimpy sicko, and I have the shortest fuse ever. It’s heartwarming, really.
Strangely, playing doctor is one of Annalyn’s favorite games (and I don’t argue, since this game entails me laying on the couch and letting her pat my head and listen to my heart with her pretend stethoscope). And she loves the Disney cartoon Doc McStuffins so much that for most of October, she was planning to be Doc for Halloween.
[Do not even get me started on her last-minute decision to be a fairy princess instead. Do not get me started.]
I’m glad that so far, Annalyn hasn’t picked up any bad nurse lessons from me. But I know it’s only a matter of time before she notices that her normally nice mommy is grumpy and short-tempered when her temperature rises and her nose runs. So I need to work on this – to be nice and to set a good example.
I’m trying. I bought a new thermometer and everything! And I have done way more back patting, hand holding and forehead feeling than normal. Maybe there’s hope for me yet!
Are you a good nurse when your loved ones get sick?
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I AM rather a good nurse – if I do say so myself! Four and a half years of training to be one may have contributed to this . . . just a bit. ;)
Hope Annalyn is feeling better soon. xo
Yes, formal training has to help. Lucky for your family, right?! :)
Like that doctor never had any of those moments! I’m an ok nurse, if they get better quickly. After the second day I’m a grouchy nurse.
Haha! Two days seems completely reasonable to me. :)
I AM a good nurse for my two kids; they’re not hypochondriacs AT ALL. if they say they’re sick, they’re sick. My HUSBAND, however! He does suffer from headaches and migraines; but sometimes, they seem rather convenient! also, he is a terrible patient when he is ill.
I spent many years being AWFUL to my husband over his “convenient” back problems. I’ve gotten a lot better and more sympathetic. I probably have my daughter to thank for that. Forcing myself to be more sweet to her has had a [SMALL] trickle down effect. :)
ROFL! I am the world’s WORST! Just ask my kids. When they were little, they got dragged to school with me and slept on my office floor in a sleeping bag! No special treatment whatsoever. At home, it’s pretty much, “Shut the door and come out when you’re not crabby.” (And I’m not confessing who says that to whom!)
Part of the problem is that I faked sick so much as a kid, because that’s when I got my mom’s special attention. So I suspect every illness of being fake. Just ask my daughter about her “sprained wrist” that ended up in a cast…
Or I go completely overboard once something serious has been diagnosed, like when whooping cough made the rounds. Guilt at having been so negligent, I guess.
The one thing I’ve always been patient about (at least I think I have!) is when they’ve got a stomach bug. I held the bowl, cleaned up everything, washed them down, stroked their hair, and spent days coaxing them thru the BRATY foods until they had their strength back.
Yes, there’s not much worse than a stomach bug. I should remember, though, that coughing (which is what my daughter is doing right now) can be just as miserable…!
With my kids, I’m a pretty sweet {i.e. kind} nurse. To my hubby? No way. I don’t get breaks when I’m sick, so why should he? Haha! But, seriously, I need to work on being sweet to him when he’s sick.
I hear you. I need to work on it, too.
I’m not happy with your pediatrician. Even said sarcastically, that is not cool, let alone professional. We’ve all had our moments. I was just commenting on a friend’s FB about my daughter puking at night and ignoring it because we thought it was just a cough (the friend had down the same). My husband and I felt horrible about it, but that was ovet a year ago and she’s still kicking. Oh, and as I type this, my two year old is screaming in bed about not wanting to nap, I’m emailing/surfing while nursing my 11 day old, and thinking about the chocolate cake in the kitchen.
I hope you got to eat that cake later. :) Kids are pretty resilient, thankfully. Also thankfully, he isn’t our normal pediatrician. (And I’m realizing right now that this is the second time I’ve had an experience bad enough to blog about with other doctors at that practice. Makes me feel kind of bad – I should write about how awesome some of the other docs are there!!!)
So glad it’s not just me! Found out this morning son has a hairline fracture in his jaw from football a week and a half ago. In my defense the ER doctor didn’t see it last week and if the oral surgeon’s office hadn’t threatened me with a $400 office visit plus treatment fees I might have taken him sooner. Turned out I just had to pay my $20 co-pay.
Ouch!! So glad to hear you only had to pay the $20 – what a relief!!
You and I are twins (with the same name). Every word you used to describe yourself fits me to a tee. And we also don’t have a working thermometer (I just checked cause my oldest doesn’t feel well today). And my youngest changed from the cutest poodle Halloween costume to a rumpled princess at the last minute also (I wrote a post about it!). Great post! Here’s to a sense of humor and a new pediatrician!
Oh no! My kiddo’s princess costume was very rumpled, too. I feel your pain!!
I would hide in the corner if my dr. said that to me! I always have that feeling that I look really silly if I take them in and it’s nothing, but then when I wait I look like the bad mom b/c they’re really sick! Agh!
Yes, it feels like there’s no good answer/choice sometimes. I’ve definitely done both – taken her in over nothing, and waited too long. Thankfully, my regular doctor never makes me feel silly!
I am not a very good nurse. My philosophy with my two boys (10 & 7) is, shake it off. If you can’t, then take medicine until you feel better. Thankfully they haven’t needed any stitches (except one) or casts yet!
The stitches, let me tell you – my older son fell on a playground climber & bit his tongue. Hard. It required 2 stitches. Just saying, don’t bother – they popped as he ate dinner that night, and his tongue was fine the next morning. :)
For both of them and my husband, as well as myself, I figure we’ll all recover if we get enough sleep and lots of fluids. :) And ditto on finding a new doc – that’s awful.
Good luck! Love your blog!!!
Emily
Oh no! What an unnecessary hassle with the stitches! Glad to hear he was fine in the morning, though!
Ooo no fun! Sorry friend!!
I’m an okay nurse – I care about my husband when he’s sick, but when he gets totally baby-ish about being sick I have a short fuze too. It’s unbelievable how much men act like babies when they’re sick! LOL.
Right? Not so tough when they’re sick! Then again, I am ALSO a big baby when I’m sick, so I have no room to talk! (Mark is a WAY better nurse than I am!)
I am horrible! I have about 4 hours of sweet mama cuddles and fetching and back scratching, then I am done. It’s easier with my 13 year old. He wants to lay in our bed and watch TV and sleep. I fetch an occasional 7up and Tylenol and that is about it. And if the Hubs is sick…? ARGH! Get past it!
Laying in bed for TV and sleep sounds like the perfect way to get over illness. So see? You ARE a good nurse! :)