Ann: You mean because you’ve survived the empty nest syndrome?Pam: No, I was reminiscing about all the health scares she gave us when she was so young, and I was marveling at how far she’s come.
Ann: Yeah, those were some scary days. I remember all the cardiologists she had to see and all the tests she went through when she had her open-heart surgery.
Pam: I was remembering one time in particular when she was five and had to go for an evaluation by a pediatric neurologist. We went to the doctor and he checked her strength and balance by having her stand on one foot, hop on each foot, and walk a line heel to toe.
Ann: I had a cop do that to me once.
Pam: Then he checked her reflexes and coordination by having her catch and throw a bounced tennis ball and kick a rolled tennis ball back to him. Finally, he used the stethoscope to listen to the blood flow in the carotid arteries in her neck and in her temples.
Ann: She must have thought she was at the playground.
Pam: She did. She was all smiles with her new glittery pencil and sticker as we left the doctor’s office and road the elevator down to the parking garage.Ann: Pediatricians are great, aren’t they? They can take a traumatic situation, make it fun, and still learn all they need to know. So did Kate like him?
Pam: That’s what I asked her on the way down in the elevator. She said she thought he was nice and lots of fun but that she didn’t think he was a very good doctor.
Ann: What? Where’d she get that idea?
Pam: I was curious about that until she said, “He was nice but I know he’s not a very good doctor because he didn’t even know the right way to use a stethoscope. It’s supposed to go on my chest!”
Ann: How funny. Knowing her, I’m surprised she didn’t correct him.
Pam: I was a little surprised myself. In fact, I asked her why she didn’t and she said, “Gosh, mommy, I didn’t want to embarrass him.”
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