Wren has been playing Doctor and I am not sure how I feel about it. He likes to use the stethoscope (which we had for his G-tube placement) to listen to his stuffed animals' 'tummies', give shots with an old syringe and apply band aids. Big Bird had a particularly bad run-in with a box of band aids and Wren spent a long while this evening walking around cuddling and comforting him, patting him and talking soothingly to him. At bedtime he put him to bed with the other animals.
Now I played doctor when I was young so I have nothing against the profession. There was the infamous game of "wee wee doctors" in which my younger brother, the young neighbors and I (we were young because the play house we used for a hospital was tiny but I have no idea what age) did operations drawing with markers on each others genitals. We were 'discovered' by the neighbors parents when their younger daughter said it was "sore" down there. Uh oh. I guess our operations were not a success and we were chastised and restricted to dolls.
But its one thing to play doctor when you only see one for your annual checkup and another when you go to doctors for surgery and echos and EKGs. I am not sure how to play doctors with Wren. I have read that medical play is useful to help kids process and manage their anxiety. But what about parents? I feel really sad and conflicted listening to bear's heart. I hate to give Otter ANOTHER shot. Hasn't OTTER had enough already? At least Wren isn't chopping otter up and sedating him.
I notice that Seattle Children's is advertising its "Health Fair 2009" on March 14th. They invite families to hospital for "Lots of fun activities" like touring an operating room, learning about heart health, looking inside an ambulance and bringing your doll for a check-up at Teddy Bear Clinic. You can even get a finger cast!
I confess, the idea fills me with dread. I don't think of the hospital as a nice educational environment. I think of it as the place where children face life-saving procedures and life-ending illnesses. I know I should try and reclaim the space in the face of the many good things that are done there but honestly, at Hospital Wren is a sick kid but at home he is normal. Its as simple as that.
Except when he plays DOCTOR!
Chicken Coop is here
On a more cheerful note - we now have a chicken coop with space for 5+ chickens to roost. It is 10ft X 40" with the run and looks beautiful. Joshua popped outside before he left tonight just to look at it.
We don't have any chickens yet but are looking at Rhode Island Reds and Auracana's (for their blue eggs). Josh thinks we should buy pullets that have been sexed and/or young hens so we don't have the issues with chicks. I am in agreement but don't really know much about young ones since Gabriella and Xena were already 2 when we got them.
I shall post a picture of the coop and of Frost's Diet Coke + Mentos experiment tomorrow.
1 comment:
hey Shannon -
I can imagine your aversion to "playing doctor" at home. But on the other hand, it sounds like it's something Wren needs to do -- on his turf, on his terms. You have the misfortune of seeing The Big Picture... but hey, plush Otter's suffering is worth it if it empowers Wren in dealing with his own very real treatment.
(I once did an "operation" on a Goofy-esque dog toy. Following what I knew of my dad's expertise, I made an incision with a razor blade, then sewed up the wound. I was devastated to discover that the scar never healed, and from then on Goofy's one leg was shorter than the other one :-)
My friend Gabriel Urgoiti and others are starting a radio station to be run by and for children at the Red Cross Children's Hospital in Cape Town. See www.childrensradiofoundation.org - particularly the Blog. The project is in its pilot phase. Of course the kids involved are older than Wren, but I think it might help you see the glass as half-full again, to redeem your sense of the hospital as a place of hope for children. (and you've got to love the accents!)
Tam
Post a Comment