Word #11

So I am in search of a new pediatrician. Well, actually, no I'm not. I haven't officially started "search mode". Instead, I find myself in a perpetual "complain-about-current-pediatrician-a-ton-and-say-I-need-a-new-one" mode.

The problem/blessing is that I tend to have very healthy kids. So I RARELY need to take them to the doctor. I am very grateful for this and would take it any day over having a baby who needed to go to the doctor all the time. But what it does is make doctor shopping more difficult. How do you try out a new doctor when you don't need to go see one?

So why a new doctor? Glad you asked.

We started going to our current pediatrician because his philosophies on raising children were very similar to mine.

For example, if your child won't eat what you cooked for dinner, they can go without. You offered food, they refused it. Not your fault. Mommy is not a short-order cook and your child will not starve to death before breakfast time.

I know that may seem harsh to some of you, but it's just the way we roll around here. I really liked that my pediatrician and I agreed on things like meals, bed times, potty training, etc.

The problem is that he is so old and set in his ways that I can never really tell if he is giving an accurate assessment of our situation, or if he is just rattling off one of his many canned speeches about children. Usually? It's the latter.

I've experienced it enough times to know that any question I have will be answered with a canned speech. That might be bad enough on its own, but this canned speech always begins mid-way through my question. I am lucky to get to word #11 before the speech commences. In anticipation of this, I now pre-plan my questions. I script them out very carefully so that the most pertinent information spills out of my mouth first. Do you know how hard it is to describe a child's issue in 11 words? Virtually impossible. So I end up feeling like a mom who is overly concerned about silly things, when the truth is that the doctor doesn't really know what my concern is anyway.

When you get to the point that you would rather look up your medical questions online than consult your pediatrician, you know you have an issue. So, let the hunt begin. I want to find someone before Sarah's 1 year check-up so if you live in my area and have a suggestion, I am more than ready to hear it!!!