You’re Invited

I’m a paramedic and I invite you to put me out of business. And while you are at it to put a lot of emergency room doctors and nurses out of business as well.  Here’s how:

• The very first time you put your child in a car- home from the hospital, have him or her in an age appropriate car seat.
• As your child grows, switch to an appropriate booster. And your little one always sees Mom and Dad, and the grandparents and siblings in seatbelts- always.
• Your child never sees your drive under the influence and never sees you text and drive- never.
• You build a fence around your pool and teach your children to swim and to never swim alone.
• Your child is taught its cool to wear a helmet while learning to ride a bike and long after- same with skates and roller blades.
• You teach and practice good nutrition- healthy eating introducing a variety of different foods.
• You exercise, ride or walk, play golf or tennis, canoe or ski. You teach your child that exercise is as fun- often better than a life of only TV and video games.
• You don’t smoke and don’t allow smokers around your kids.\You talk to your kids about the internet and internet safety. You get to know your child’s friends.
• You learn and teach appropriate stress management that does not involve alcohol, drugs or overindulging in food.

You teach that peace is preferred to fighting and love- especially of oneself – is the greatest gift of all.

For Dads…

I’ve enjoyed and been impressed with the commercials from different celebrities including President Obama for Fatherhood.gov. Their theme is “the smallest moments can have the biggest impact on a child’s life.” What does this have to do with being a medic? Same as being a doctor, a lawyer or an Indian chief. We all likely spend too much time on our careers, working long hours and making huge sacrifices. As dad’s its important to remember and easy to forget that for every hour we work- someone else shares our loss. And as fathers we never sacrifice alone.

I grew up with the Harry Chapin Song, Cats In The Cradle which cautions in its lyrics, “My Child arrived just the other day, he came to the world in the usual way. But there were planes to catch and bills to pay.”

As I get older, I do look back and and ask myself how I did. As this year’s Father’s day approaches don’t sit back and wait for ties and BBQ gadgets but also take the time to celebrate your children on this very special day. There does come a time when they are grown, a time when your children have jobs and careers and families of their own. Never stop being a Dad- its an honor and a privilege.

Check out : www.fatherhood.gov- all the good TV spots – great resources too.

Hollywood shows us a family dealing with Aspergers on Parenthood

Tuesday night I got to watch NBC’s Parenthood, based on the Ron Howard film of the same name. With a cast of wonderful actors the show examines the intertwined lives of of one family and airs on Tuesday nights at 10pm. In last night’s episode one of the adult siblings learns that his son Max has Aspergers Syndrome. While the show will not give you any new information on the disorder it is a wonderful window into how the boy’s behavior affects his family. His older sister seems a bit jealous of all the attention he gets, yet she is the one who knows how to best manage him. His father wrestles to understand that this is a permanent condition and that he can’t just be “cured.” His mother seems to be preparing for what she knows will be a long, hard road. His uncle uses it as an excuse to juggle girlfriends.

The episode mentions some treatment options and therapies when the overwhelmed parents visit another couple with an Aspergers child and pokes fun at how hard it can be to get in to see some specialists. To watch the episode go here. Next week’s episode will feature some of the issues Max has with school.