I took my son to the pediatrician for his 7 year wellness visit and realized just before we arrived that I was in trouble this time around. Oh crap, he can now speak for himself. Not only that but we’ve recently switched doctors and the new doctor speaks directly to him rather than to me as the parent. I thought this was a great characteristic until now. I wasn’t going to be able to “fudge” my way through this appointment.
If you’re not a mom you’re wondering, “Why would I need to fudge my way through it?” Well, at these appointments the doctor always asks a lot of questions about nutrition and safety. No mom is perfect – at least no mom I know. Although we do our best to make sure our kids are eating and drinking the right things sometimes it just doesn’t happen.
My typical responses …
“Yeah, he drinks at least 2-3 glasses a day.”
“He doesn’t like veggies, but he eats them.”
“He rarely watches TV.”
“We always make sure he wears a helmet.” This is true!
Instead, my son says…
“I don’t like milk except in my cereal.”
“I don’t like vegetables. Except I sometimes eat them in other things … like ketchup”
“I don’t always watch TV but I like video games.”
“My helmet is too tight so I don’t wear it.”
The doctor now proceeds with a lecture on building strong bones and the importance of protecting his brain. Ugh! Total humiliation. Even worse … he’s still speaking “kid language” but talking to me so I feel like I am being scolded by a parent.
In exactly 1 year we have to do this again. Maybe I can teach him the art of “fudging” between now and then.
