I’ve been sick with a wicked cold for a week. In the process of recovering, I’ve spent a lot of time on the couch, feeling sorry for myself. I also watched a lot of Netflix, mostly reruns of House, MD. Other than some fantastic entertainment and suspenseful medical drama, I actually noticed there are some really applicable parenting lessons nestled in there. I wish Dr. House was around to diagnose my persistent cough and exhaustion, but at least I had his insight to troubleshoot my parenting. I also learned I might need to lay off the cold meds and go to sleep.
Everybody lies. Sometimes it’s just easier not to tell the truth. Judge me all you like, but consider Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy and I am in pretty good company. Thinking back to calling turkey “giant chicken” so my kid would eat it, I’m sure that this technique will progress to “You will definitely use algebra in the real world.”
Names can be hard, use numbers instead. I’m the oldest of four girls and we had a lot of pets. I can’t tell you how many wrong names I was called. This could all have been avoided had we defaulted to a numbering system instead of using names. I use this same approach for my neighbours whose names I can never recall. #CondoLiving
Tantrums happen. Despite your best efforts, sometimes bad behaviour happens. Try your best, but recognize that kids can be jerks sometimes. It’s not about you. It’s not about anybody. Don’t be too hard on yourself, just do what you can with what you have. Some days kids don’t like anybody.
Don’t play Doctor. There’s nothing scarier than WebMD when you are a mom. Don’t be afraid to reach out to professionals. They have lots of useful information with valuable context and can save you from freaking out about stuff that’s totally normal (like cradle cap) but looks a lot like bubonic plague to Dr. Google.
Follow your nose. Sometimes you literally have to sniff out the solution, like “what smells like it died in my kid’s room?” It’s usually a forgotten snack or misplaced lunch. You might not be able to see it under the collection of toys but you can probably smell it.
The most important lesson I learned from Dr. House is that even though he’s a diagnostic genius, he works as part of a team. It takes a village to raise a child, just like it takes a group of talented, brilliant doctors to diagnose things that aren’t lupus (it’s never lupus, if you’ve watched more than a season or two). When I’m sick and having a hard time parenting from the couch, I’m thankful for my “village”, even if nobody can tell me why I have the sniffles. As I contemplate watching yet another season, I realize that I most DEFINITELY need to lay off the cold medicine and get some sleep.
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