A hookah bar just opened up down the street from me, and they have no shortage of customers. Even the other parents in my kids’ playgroup are smoking hookah, and some say it’s safer that smoking cigarettes. Really? Being the evidence-based mom-pediatrician that I am, I’ve search the medical literature. It’s time for some hookah [...]
Should I Let My Child use an iPad?
Posted on May 9, 2013 Written by 3 Comments
Should I let my child play with an iPad? This is why I say, “Yes!” to my toddler and his tablet. “Mama, can I have the ‘myPad’? Please!” This is one of the most common phrases I will hear most any given day. My iPad was fondly renamed by my now 3-year-old, when he turned [...]
Tired? What Sleep-Deprivation does to Parents
Posted on May 6, 2013 Written by 1 Comment
I’m an expert in sleep deprivation—I’ve worked night shifts for almost a decade while watching my four (soon to be five) kids during the day. Three of those years I worked 80+ hours per week as a pediatric resident. I’m convinced now that sleep-deprived parenting does not make me any kind of a martyr, but [...]
April Showers and Good Parenting
Posted on May 3, 2013 Written by 1 Comment
Parenting is hard work. Do you ever pick the kids up at the end of the day and think, “I don’t think I can do this tonight?” It’s been raining a great deal these last couple weeks. Driving the kids to school one day, I was admiring the deep green grass and proliferation of flowering [...]
When Healthcare Can’t Heal
Posted on April 30, 2013 Written by 1 Comment
A 2-year-old child of one of my colleagues just got a glob of Vaseline in his hair. After trying everything obvious and searching the internet, nothing seemed to get the Vaseline out of his hair. I’m privileged to work with a group of about fifty pediatricians, and most of us are parents. When we’re totally [...]
Boston: What do I tell my kids?
Posted on April 16, 2013 Written by Leave a Comment
We first posted this column after the Colorado movie theater shooting, and again after the mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. We are heartbroken at the number of times this information has been relevant just in the last year. Once again, we are asking ourselves how to talk to our kids about yesterday’s tragic events in [...]
Kids and Depression: How have we come to this?
Posted on April 8, 2013 Written by 6 Comments
By the time kids come to see me in the ER with depression, things are usually pretty bad. Yet, I see it all the time, just about every shift I work. Sometimes it’s after an intentional drug overdose, other times when they are caught holding a gun to their head. Twice in the past year [...]
Keeping Your Child Safe: 6 Things MomDocs Know That You Should Too
Posted on April 4, 2013 Written by 2 Comments
Last summer on the way home from the beach, the SUV I bought to keep my kids safe had warning lights showing on the dashboard just as we were about to make the day-long drive home. Here I was, far from home and alone with the kids and my trusty vehicle was acting [...]
“Are You Done Yet?” In Defense of our 5th Child
Posted on April 1, 2013 Written by 288 Comments
This week my husband and I announced our big news: we’re expecting our 5th child in September. “Really?” is the most common reply. Here are some of the other zingers we have heard: “Do you hate money?” “Are you done now?” “Are you crazy?” “Was this planned?” “Don’t you know there are things you can [...]
18 Reasons Why Doctors and Lawyers Homeschool Their Children
Posted on March 25, 2013 Written by 653 Comments
I’m going public today with a secret I’ve kept for a year—my husband and I are homeschooling our children. I never dreamed we would become homeschoolers. I wanted my kids integrated and socialized. I wanted their eyes opened to the realities of the world. I wanted the values we taught at home put to the [...]
