Husband is out of town. The person who said she would be on call to pick Son up if I had to work late forgot and made other plans. So after calling half the world and not finding anyone at home or on mobile phones, I decided to pick him up from daycare and bring him back to the hospital. After all, I had only two patients left to see, and both were "easy."
First we went to the cafeteria, where I let him pick out his own dinner, which we put in a to-go container. Next we stopped at the gift shop and bought a coloring book and crayons. We then went to the telemetry unit, where Son was an angel. He sat at a desk eating and coloring while I saw a patient.
Next, and this is where I question my sanity, I decided he was so good on the telemetry unit that I could take him up to the mental health unit. One patient. One easy patient. And nothing ever happens there.
After asking the charge nurse if it was OK, I parked him at a desk in the nursing station and got him all settled in with his crayons. I kissed his cheek and told him I'd be right back.
And then it happened in a flash.
A wild man, twenty-something, ran out down the hall screaming, "I'll kill you all!" Nurses surrounded him but he was very, very strong. Security guards appeared out of nowhere and tackled him.
Needless to say, Son didn't need to see that. I was nuts to think he'd be OK up there. So I got him outside and we sat at a picnic table and waited for PaniniFreak to come get him. And then I went back for my one easy patient. Funny, that patient wasn't so easy, after all.
At home, I asked Son if he had been scared by that man yelling. He seemed to not know what I was talking about.
Mommy of the year I'm not.
I am absolutely terrified to bring my kid to work with me. I feel like our hospital is crawling with germs and I don't want her within a mile of the entrance.
ReplyDeleteKids are so resilient. And distractible. It may have been impossible to miss from your perspective, but not necessarily for your son.
ReplyDeleteI'm thankful that, at least when they're young, children have fairly poor recall so they can forget all the mistakes we think we made.
I've taken my kids on rounds only a couple of times when no other childcare options could be found. I parked them with the nurses (bless them!) while I went to see a couple of newborns. My youngest was offered juice, and picked cranberry which would up as a big stain on the light colored carpet (who puts light colored carpet in a hospital?). KC's right - kids are resilient and not great with the long term memory (yet). I've also secured both kids in the doctors lounge with whatever snacks they wanted and a TV while I quickly saw a patient. Not ideal, not mother of the year material, but it got the job done.
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