The Bright Future of America

*WARNING: The first half of this post is me, perched high atop a soapbox, screaming out at the top of my lungs.  If you aren't interested in my crazy opinions on antibiotics, fatty foods and vaccines, skip down to the "Riveting Topics."  The bottom half of this post is after a few stiff drinks and I promise I get back to normal down there :)

We had our check-ups at the doctor today...a few months late but who's counting!  Leo had his 3 year check-up and Elena had her 18 month check-up.

A few disturbing things about the visit:

1) The doctor looked in Leo's ear and noticed it was just a touch red.  I was instantly granted a prescription for antibiotics.  I never asked for one nor were we having any issues.  I am not anti-doctor.  I think they are great and I love our pediatricians which is why I didn't pick a new one when we moved.  But c'mon!  Antibiotics are not necessary all the time.  Leo had a lot of antibiotics when he was little for minor ear infections and hasn't needed them in many years.  I try my best to avoid them like the plague if possible.  I have also done a little research:

Many kids get up to three ear infections each year, and they usually clear within a few days, with or without antibiotics

Read more: http://www.momlogic.com/2009/05/ear_infection_antibiotics.php#ixzz1ZpwbnNfu

I'm going to try this home remedy first if it gets painful for him and, of course, if gets unbearable, I'll fill the darn prescription :)

Credit

2) My doctor asked if we are drinking milk yet.  I told her that both of the kids drink milk every day.  She said something to the effect of, "So now you can move Leo to skim or 1% milk and keep Elena on whole milk"...WHAT???  He's not overweight!  I understand that obesity is a problem, and looking at their mom might concern the doctor since I am significantly overweight.

But how about recommending that we never eat fast food or keep junk food in our house and that way we can keep the whole milk around for a while??  I have done my research on this as well and I have decided that we will skip the junk food snacks and keep the whole milk, yogurt, cheese and sour cream in our diet.  (The article that opened my eyes was Why Skim Milk Will Make You Fat and Give You Heart Disease.)

3) When I declined the flu shot, of course I was given the same old story about the rise of deaths in children from the flu last year.  And if my children were in school or day care, perhaps I would give a damn.  I might even care more if they were generally unhealthy and had other complications (asthma, poor hearts, cancer, other auto-immune deficiencies, were born premature, etc.).  But dang she really tried to let me have it.  Elena had 2 other vaccinations to receive today and I wasn't excited about plowing her with more.  (The jury is still out on vaccines for me.  Both of my kids have received their vaccines on schedule or sometimes we will split the visits so they only get one or two at a time.  I plan on continuing this practice for necessary vaccines.  I don't consider the flu shot necessary and will nurse my babies back to health if they get sick.)

Overall, my doctor was super sweet and I really do like her.  She was understanding and knew that if I needed to reconsider any of my decisions, I would.  

Moving on to more riveting topics:

I try to work with my kids to raise them to be upstanding, contributing members of society.  I'm not looking for my kids to be famous or rich.  I just want them not to embarrass me.  (This seems like an appropriate moment to offer my most sincere apology to my own mother...sorry Mom!!!)

1) Leo had to play a matching game with letters very similar to the game Memory for a vision test.  He had to look at the card held up by the nurse and he had to match the letter on the card to the letter on a large board in his lap.  The kid did it!!!!!  I clearly have been setting expectations waaaaaAAAAAYYYY too low for this guy and will now be expecting him to debate theology with Dad every night over beer and peanuts.  He's a genius.  Nevermind the fact that when he looks at a clock he declares that it is "Eighty-four-five o'clock!"

2) The doctor wanted to look inside Elena's mouth and gave Elena the tongue depressor to play with.  She asked Elena to stick out her tongue and say "Ahhh".  Elena stuck the depressor on her tongue and said "Ahhh".  The doctor looked at me shocked and declared "Never!  Never does a child under 2 do that!"  This doctor sure knew how to make a mom feel good!

3) Elena was chattering away while I talked to the doctor and she couldn't believe that Elena was talking so well.  She was putting together words to form phrases with 2 words.  I thought Elena was an early talker but I have heard lots of girls talk at very young ages.  But the way the doctor reacted was like Elena had solved world peace!!  Again - this doctor knew how to swell up a mom's ego!!!!!

Folks - allow me to proudly introduce you to the extremely bright future of the United States of America.

Glad we could do our part.  God Bless America :)