Dr. Mom to the Rescue!
5 mins read

Dr. Mom to the Rescue!

When it comes to my kid’s health, I find the “revolutionary” pearl stated by Dr. Benjamin Spock to moms of “you know more than you think you do” reassuring, if not pressure-inducing.

Your child’s health is your responsibility. In this regard, moms need to morph into hawks. It’s an unwritten rule that when you give birth, you take a short form of the Hippocratic Oath to care for your children.

Playing Doctor

Great, another thing I’m supposed to master! I’m not a doctor, but I play one almost every day, whether it’s kissing a boo-boo, fetching ice for my kids or tracking their next scheduled doctors visit.

We navigate the reams of information about how to best care for our kids. The solicited and unsolicited opinions alone can make you sick. What doctor to see, courses of action to take, what your parents did in their day; my heart rate is accelerating just thinking about it. Caring for children is not for the faint of heart.

Being overly protective is counterproductive since your kid’s can’t live in a bubble and stress is harmful for your health.

Modern See-Saw

The children’s health care pendulum constantly swings. Many moms are opting for a more natural course steering clear of modern vaccines. It was (and, for some, still is) believed that illness stemmed from social situations, religious beliefs like evil spirits plaguing your body or a punishment from the gods. Hippocrates, “the father of Western medicine”, was the first to dispel these notions and see illness as deriving from “environmental factors, diet, and living habits.” (Wikipedia) Fast forward to modern medicine and the illness origins shift again towards diagnostic medicine.

I picture the pre-western medicine days much like, “Madagascar 2 Escape from Africa”, where if you had any kind of infirmity, “you’d go to the dying hole and died.” Actually, that’s kind of like my house growing up; if you got sick, you were put in quarantine lockdown in your room, fed chicken noodle soup and became a total leper.

With advances in both western and eastern medicine, charting a health care course for your child raises many doubts. I take the best from both worlds. My medicine cabinet is stocked with common symptom battlers – fever reducers, Saline Nose drops; preventative – vitamins and herbal – immunity defense drops; essential oils – peppermint oil for stuffy noises; and belief nets – sage, incense and lots of prayer beads!

Trust Your Instincts

When saging your kids isn’t enough, trust your instincts and health care professionals. Freaking out doesn’t help. Taking action does. It’s easy to fear the worst. We’ve all heard fluke stories. Every other week, there’s a recall of household medicines and even vaccines on the market (remember the recall on the swine flu vaccine last year? that was fun) and changes in recommended approaches.

My mommy “spidey sense” is sharpening. I can tell when my kids are getting sick. They are slower, quieter and more mope. I know for the next week or so, they’ll be out for the count. Plans cancelled, parties de-rsvp’d — it’s time to just rest up, bust out the chicken soup and amp up the TLC quotient.

I pray that my motherly instincts will kick in if they were ever (god forbid) in dire immediate need – choking, seizure, allergic shock, 105+ fever, etc. It’s hard not to panic and fear the worse.

Sure, I now have my pediatrician’s number memorized and pray every day for my kids and loved ones to be healthy. Health is the greatest commodity and it is, after all, a trillion dollar industry.

We must trust our instincts and let everyone believe that Dr. Mom has it all under control.

Be well!

About the Author

Cynthia Litman is a working modern mom with a classic twist. She has two delicious children and is the spiritual and visionary guide of Mommas Pearls. Mommas Pearls provides insight and support to other everyday busy parents. Cynthia is also an entertainment lawyer with a niche in spiritual entertainment. Her firm Cynthia R. Litman, Esq., PLLC caters to the spiritual entertainment market. She is a founding partner of The Spiritual Cinema Circle (www.spiritualcinemacircle.com), a DVD club for spiritual films, Executive Producer of the Independent films “Lost In Sunshine” and “Boost”, production attorney for “Conversations With God” (film based upon the books by Neale Donald Walsch) and distribution attorney for Debbie Ford’s documentary film “The Shadow Effect” and Nicole Clark’s documentary film “Cover Girl Culture”. Cynthia is a contributing writer for the online magazine Bella Life and a Lifestyle expert for Skimbaco Lifestyle.

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