The Pendulum Swings Back Eventually

By Laura J. Wellington  April 8, 2022 

I recently took my twelve-year-old for his annual check-up. The process was rather routine, except for two distinct differences. First, he needed three vaccinations, all of which he received and second, I wrote “No” across a form that the nurse handed him without my permission. 

You see, the nurse bypassed me and handed my son two pieces of paper and a pen. She asked him to answer two questions on one and then the entirety of the next. She then proceeded to leave the room. Not once did she ask me to look at the forms prior to handing them to my son nor even question whether I wanted him to complete them. It left me annoyed and feeling disrespected. 

My son proceeded to answer the questions (the first two of which he couldn’t even understand). This was met with my words “Don’t answer anything until I take a look.” So he stopped and I read. And what I read had nothing to do with my son’s physical health at all and everything to do with facets of his life quite personal to him and me, all of which fall outside of my pediatrician’s jurisdiction, in my book. So I picked up the pen and wrote the word “No” across both forms and called it a day.

When the pediatrician came in, she disregarded the papers and examined my son, engaging in the usual chit-chat that a parent would expect from a pediatrician. The appointment ended on an uneventful note but it got me to thinking how much things have changed since I was small and my mother was sitting in the pediatrician’s office with me. I was basically a third-party participant in the visit with all questions traveling from the nurse or pediatrician directly to my mother. The few that went directly to me were simple and up for debate with my mother. That’s how it was. Parents weren’t bypassed. The buck stopped with them and, in that, everyone stayed in their own lane… unlike today...........To Read More....

The blurred lanes are dumbfounding. Combine that with the vulnerability and naivety of children. Parents are now forced to remain “on-guard” at all times simply to keep their kids out of harm's way… or so they feel.