1 Year Appointment
After my 1 year old son L had his birthday, it was time to bring him to the pediatrician for his appointment. My wife wasn’t feeling well, so it was just me going in solo. I knew I was in for a world of screaming, so I didn’t forget the earplugs this time. It’s something I usually bring with me to appointments with my kids and the times I forgot them, I have regretted it immensely.
I drove L to the appointment and when we got there, my earplugs went in. L ended up crying on the elevator, but was fine after we got settled in the waiting area. It was the only time he was calm. Once they called us back to start doing the measurements and weight, he was crying and screaming nonstop. He is very aware of his surroundings now and has a huge sense of stranger danger.
When the nurse was done, I got L to calm down slightly in the room. He was still crying, but it wasn’t as bad as before. Once his pediatrician arrived, the screaming came back. L was not having a good time! He was screaming in my ear the whole time while I was trying to have a conversation with the pediatrician. I felt bad because my earplugs were still in and even though I could hear about 80% of the conversation, at times I had to ask for things to get repeated when I couldn’t use context clues to piece together the questions. The pediatrician understood my predicament though because L was screaming so loudly next to my ear and I was holding him.
My kids are generally really loud and vocal and L was no exception. In fact, when my wife brought our 6 year old daughter E for her shots, she ended up crying and screaming so loudly. After the shots were done, they walked out of the room and another doctor said they could hear the screaming from the floor below!
Fast forward to L’s appointment wrapping up. Thank goodness it was over and the pediatrician said it was good self care to have those earplugs. I really want to be able to hear my kids talk to me, so preserving my hearing (and sanity!) is a must. Even though the appointment was hectic, I’m glad that I can handle these thugs with confidence. Doing this the third time around makes things easier because I know what to expect and hopefully over time, it gets easier juggling everything. At minimum, I’ll hope for less screaming too.
