| When my wife became pregnant with our first child, I felt happy and confident. After all, I was a pediatrician. Babies and children were my specialty.
As the pregnancy advanced, uncertainty began to chip away at my self-confidence. Wasn't morning sickness only supposed to last a few months? Why was my wife making it an Olympic sport?
The delivery didn't do much to help bolster my already sagging ego. My wife went into labor at home. For awhile not much progressed, so we figured that we had plenty of time to kill before we went to the hospital. (No sir, we weren't going to look like nervous first time parents ) . When the contractions suddenly went to 2 minutes apart, I began to have the sinking feeling that my son wanted to be born at home. Not a very happy thought considering that my wife was scheduled for a C-Section. Thankfully we made it to the hospital and our son, Joshua was delivered. Now I was in familiar territory.
Two weeks later, Joshua developed colic. Confidently, I implemented my tried and true arsenal of colic remedies-the vacuum, bouncing, mylicon drops. Much to my surprise, none of them worked. The screaming grew worse and our ability to sleep grew less. My wife began eyeing me with that "Are you sure you're really a pediatrician?" look.
Over the years I have received that look many times. As parents, we all want clear cut answers to our parenting dilemas. Unfortunately, not every answer is right for every family and not every problem can be solved by a single answer. Parenting is an ongoing process, one that you get better with in time and practice.
Joshua is now 10 and heading towards his last year of elementary school. He is learning to deal with the challenges of asthma and food allergies. His younger brother, Jeremy, is 4 and is dealing with the struggles of autism. My children are both a precious gift as well as a puzzle to me.Each is going through different stages of development and dealing with different challenges. Some days I find myself trying to force a piece of the puzzle into a spot that doesn't quite fit.
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| Being a pediatrician has not made me a better parent, but being a parent has made me a much better pediatrician. |
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That's ok- I know that sometimes I will miss my mark. I just dust myself off and try again.
When I look back on all that has happened to me during the last several years, I come to a startling revelation: Being a pediatrician has not made me a better parent, but being a parent has made me a much better pediatrician.
Over the next several months I will have the honor of discussing the special challenges that elementary school children are faced with with you. As parents, we can become overwhelmed with their new found push for independence; saddened that we can no longer just "Kiss it and make it better". I hope that you will find these articles informative. Please keep in touch and share your thoughts. I have the ultimate respect for your knowledge and wisdom.
Sincerely,
Stuart Janousky
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