Friday, February 19, 2010

So, like, what's the problem?

This morning T had a doctors appointment. In order to attend school, he has to have a yearly physical. He had one last August/September but here it has to be on a specific state form, so we had to go through the whole thing again. yay.

Now, T has a thing about doctors. He's had a full range of doctors in his short life, some of them good, some of them horrible. Overall, we've been pretty lucky with medical care for him. Part of the physical process last year was updating immunizations. T calls them pokes. Makes perfect sense to me, because these military clinics literally poke/jab/stab that needle right into you. Last year he had to have four in one day and then another one a few weeks later. He was pretty accepting about the four until they jabbed the first one in his leg. It made me flinch, and I am still amazed that he allowed them to do the other three. Unfortunately, the fall out for that has been that any time you mention "you and doctor" in the same sentence to T, he freaks out. I can't really blame him. Because of that, I didn't tell him until this morning that he had to go to the doctor. He didn't take the news well, but he didn't exactly freak out either. He did look at me with those big, brown eyes - big ol' crocodile tears rolling out of them and down his cheeks - and say in the smallest, most pitiful voice ever, "Please don't make me go, Mommy."

This is where I take a firm stand that parents often get a raw deal. I mean, think about it - infancy with the constant feedings and sleepless nights, worrying because they can't tell you if something's wrong, are they developing okay, are all these doggone vaccines going to do more harm than good? For the next stage they are mobile, drooling, teething creatures that manage to get everywhere they aren't supposed to be and are mostly focused on and attracted to the dangerous stuff like drooly fingers in electrical outlets. My two both figured out how to get the protective outlet covers off in no time. Thank goodness the German ones actually locked. Then comes the tantrum stage. I have blog entry after blog entry about those, so we'll skip the details today. Since we haven't completely made it out of the tantrum stage, I refuse to speculate on what's next. But I'm hoping that for at least a brief period of time between now and the tween years (where the hormones really start to kick in) where it's alllllll good. I'm not, however, holding my breath. I'm trying to mentally prepare myself that it might not be good until my kids have kids and then they get the chance to experience the joys (hahahahahaaaaa...ahem...sorry) of parenthood. It's amazing how much becoming a parent opened my eyes to what my parents put up with, and for the most part, I was a good kid. No, really, I was. I was!

Back to my point - 0h my gosh, it just broke my heart into pieces to make T go to the doctor today. I know we had to go, the state and school system require it for pete's sake, but gosh - this kid has really been through some trauma with doctors, and I don't blame him for being skittish or scared. At any rate, we get to the medical building on time and go to check in. That takes a few minutes longer than I expect, but the upside to that is that we had very little wait time before the nurse came to get us. We go into the exam room, T was behaving beautifully despite his reservations, and I'm amazed with the staff. Everyone was great with kids (and parents) and the doctor came in within five minutes after we first walked into the room. Wow!

This doctor - Dr Coble - well, he's my new hero. T was immediately at ease and so was I. He asked if I had any concerns, and then didn't blow me off. He addressed every single one without a single eye roll or equivalent to patting me on the head. My main concerns were two moles on top of T's head and his ears. His tubes are out and he complains about his ears hurting when he blows his nose. I was supposed to take him back to the Ear, Nose and Throat doctor in Germany, but I just couldn't put both of us through that. The drive, the wait, the language barrier...ugh...and I really think that if they had told me he needed new tubes put in over there that I would have refused. Since he wasn't having ear infections or any other troubles, I didn't see the point.

His appointment was at 8 am, we were out of there by 8:20. So off to school we went. I told his teachers twice that he would be late coming in today because of this appointment. What I didn't do was ask what the procedure was for bringing him in late would be. When we got to school, all the doors were locked. Luckily, someone (a hall monitor?!?) opened the door for us and explained that at 8:30, the doors are closed and they self lock. To get in, you need to ring the buzzer, which was right there, I just didn't realize. Oops. Of course, T, being ever so helpful, says "Yeah, Mom. You have to ring the buzzer." Wish you would have told me that before I shook the doors like an idiot. (Sigh)

We go in and I walk him to his classroom. Mrs B looks at me kind of funny and I say that T had a doctor's appointment, which she had obviously forgotten. Next time I'm sending a note. That way they'll have it in writing. Actually, next time I'll schedule outside of school hours and then it won't matter. As I'm leaving, Mrs. B asks me if I've signed him in. Umm, no I haven't. Didn't realize I had to (although I should have known from when I was in school 20+ years ago. Good to know some things don't change). I have to go to the office anyway and drop off the form Dr. Coble filled out for us, and when S and I walk in a lady in the front office asks me if I'm signing in S. I say no, that I'm signing in T, who is already in class because I didn't realize that I had to sign him in when we walked by the office on the way to his classroom. And girlfriend rolls her eyes and makes a face and turns and walks away.

Uhhh...excuse me?!?! I get that I didn't follow proper procedure, but I've yet to be in the office where she hasn't seemed to have an attitude. I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt the first time or two, but honestly, that was just rude. Working in the front office, I would expect a more professional attitude. While it certainly didn't enrage me, I was offended at the behavior. So before I can push my self edit/mute button, I say (and it probably sounded more snappy than I intended), "Look, I'm sorry, we are new here and I didn't know. It won't happen again." And what does she do? She rolls her eyes - again - sneers. SNEERS. WTHeck? Another person sees that this is quickly escalating and jumps in to diffuse the situation. I honestly don't know what I would have done if she hadn't. Probably nothing but continue to be offended in all honesty, but geez, lady. Whomever is spitting on your cinnamon toast needs to stop. Sheesh!

I explain to the very nice and helpful lady that I'm now facing that I need to drop off the physical form and most recent vaccination form for his medical records, but that I also need a copy for my records. She makes me the copy while S charms the office staff with the exception of Madame Eye McRolley, who plops down at her desk and works on perfecting her eye roll technique. Hey, practice makes perfect, and I can eye roll with the best of 'em, too. With my copy of T's forms in hand, S and I make a quiet, graceful, non-dramatic exit and go on our merry way. Have a nice day!

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