Paul is a brave boy. Yesterday I took him to update his shot record for kindergarten. We thought he was due for three boosters but it turned out that he needed four. The best news of the day was that he doesn’t need another shot until the year 2013. Phew!
Bravery requires proper attire. Paul was prepared all the way down to his Power Ranger underwear. Armed with “Sharpie” (his latest Webkinz) and a box of Spiderman Band-Aids we made our way to the doctor’s office.
Paul was great. Before the visit I had made it clear to Paul what was going to happen. We also discussed a proper reward for good behavior. He and I agreed that his reward would be to go to the video store and rent one of his favorite games, Mario Party 8 for the Wii.
I was disappointed with how Paul’s vision & hearing screening was handled. There is no pediatrician office in town so I opted to take Paul to the local family practice. The staff clearly had little experience with children. The nurse who tested Paul’s vision began by using the alphabet sight chart. After Paul shrugged his shoulder’s at the second letter I suggested that perhaps the picture chart would be more appropriate. Paul knows most of his alphabet but still struggles with identifying some letters. The picture chart wasn’t much better. A few symbols were difficult to name. It’s not that Paul couldn’t see them, he just didn’t know what to call them. The nurse tested each of Paul’s eyes separately but initially forgot to test Paul with both eyes open.
The hearing screening wasn’t any better. Paul wasn’t raising his hand high enough in response to hearing the sounds so the nurse – a different nurse – took Sharpie out of his lap. I understood her reasoning (so that he would be free to raise his arm without any distractions) but I thought the way in which she went about it was unthoughtful. The nurse showed zero amount of bedside manner. At one point she tried to threaten Paul into cooperating. It was pretty much a waste of time.
Thankfully the doctor dismissed the results of both tests (I’m fairly certain that Paul is neither blind nor deaf as the results would have indicated) and I will take him for a do-over towards the end of the summer. Next time I’ll find a doctor’s office with actual experience treating children.
All this to further prove the very scientific study that yes, most children are strongly opposed to children’s healthcare:
Study: Most Children Strongly Opposed To Children’s Healthcare
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Good for you for preparing your son for his doctor’s visit. I’m sure that made the experience less stressful for him (even with the gruff nurse).
I hope your new town has a pediatrician’s office so he can experience care from people who know how kids work!