So, last week I got to pinch hit for a friend who had a family emergency. I came over to watch her kids, which involved taking her older daughter to the pediatrician. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve set foot in a pediatrician’s office? at least 15 years. It was funny, because it brought back a lot of memories (I was one of those pasty, sickly kids). So here, in no particular order, are my observations from the pediatrician’s office:
- A “well child” area and a “not so well child” area is really a waste of time when the not so well children aren’t behind a steel door. What, are the germs just going to stop at the edge of the sick area and say “oh right, we’re supposed to stay over here”? Yeah right.
- Pediatrician’s offices NEED a play area. At least some children’s books. I was getting bored, and I’m not an ADD, fever-ridden child.
- In addition to the well and sick areas, there needs to be an area for brats. Preferably a pen outside.
- Parents of sick children often look more sick than their kids do.
- Parents of sick twins look positively macabre.
- Free stickers make any matter of shots and nasty medicines better.
- It’s frowned upon when grown-ups ask for stickers.
Nice use of macabre
The pediatrician we take Jack to has a:
1. Well Check Room
2. Sick Visit Room
3. and a (I kid you not) Only a Little Sick Room
As a grownup twin, I really don’t know how my parents did it. And there was this one time when the entire family was sick with the flu AT THE SAME TIME. And no one died! In other completely unrelated news that I just wanted to share with you, I just heard Annie Lennox on XM radio. And I thought she was a man. Yeah.
they didn’t even have a few copies of Highlights? what a low class pediatrician office!
I agree w/Aaron, extra points for getting the word “macabre” into the blog about a pediatrician’s office. Worst memory was when a very-hard-to-understand pediatrician asked me one day if I’d “made any water” that day. I was 5. Five, people, five! Like I had any idea what the heck Dr. Feelgood was talking about! It took nurses 3 minutes to get his intended meaning through my thick head.