A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes

I've avoided alarm clocks ever since I quit my outside job as a secretary to stay home and be a mom. But I've recently decided it probably isn't a good thing for my kids to get up and be by themselves for an hour or more before mommy rolls out of bed. So, I discovered that my cell phone has an alarm on it. I chose something that is supposed to sound like nature, because it seemed the least obnoxious off all the sounds. So I have been awaking to the sound of very cheerful bird chirping every morning. This makes me think of Cinderella being woke up by the sweet little mice and bluebirds in the Disney movie. And perhaps I thought that might be what it was like. However, no enchanted woodland creatures get my clothes ready and give me a sponge bath. But that's probably a good thing. Mice creep me out.

So today we had an appointment with a real, live pediatrician. For a few years my children have been on state insurance and we have had to go to a clinic. I can't complain, because it was free insurance when we had none, but I have not been happy with the care. Now Hubby's job has insurance and we get to go back to our old pediatrician, who is more than wonderful (I think I hear a song coming on). I cannot begin to tell you how excited I was to take the kids in today. However, I had to be there by 8:00 a.m. to fill out new patient paperwork. Yeah, that's right. Eight o'clock in the morning. So I take a shower last night and set my Cheerful Chirping Alarm for 6. It takes me an hour to get my eyes open and an hour to get everything else done if I am already showered. The chirping scares me to death when it begins this morning and I shoot out of bed like a rocket. That's one way to get my butt out of bed. I'll be honest. I was worried getting everyone around and getting out of the house so early this morning. But, wonder of wonders, we did it, with minimal chaos. In fact, I had told Sister to pick up her room before we left and Brother asked, "Can I help her?" HUH? What?! Help your sister? It's a foreign concept, but yeah, why not? Go ahead. Help your sister clean her room.

We make it to the appointment right on time. I am clean, with hair fixed and makeup on, which is, sad to say, a rarity these days. I'm feeling ahead of the game. Like I got the jump on my day when it wasn't looking. There's a spring in my step and a smile on my face. Perhaps there is something to be said for rising early. Okay, that's probably a hasty assumption, but it does bear looking into. The waiting room is empty and my children have free reign over all the fun toys, which is the prime environment for fun paperwork filling out. I just finish signing the last medical history form when they call our name, as if there were a magic buzzer back there to let them know we were ready. Sorry. That can't be right. We haven't spent enough time here. I'm not screaming at my children yet. We're actually having fun.

The nurse takes us back to weigh the girls, whose well child appointments are this morning. Brother's is next month. She is sweet and patiently weighs Brother, too, so as not to leave him out. She takes us to the examining room and says, "Wait right here while I go get them some gowns." Gowns? She returns with two little examining gowns for the girls. Sister's is green with Bugs Bunny and Baby's is blue with bath toys on it. They don't have gowns at the clinic. I am expecting to be in here a while. It was nothing for us to wait half an hour or more at the clinic for a doctor to see us. Even first thing in the morning. But I'm not too worried. I brought books, toys and snacks to keep us occupied. I even brought Brother's GameBoy to use in a moment of desperation. Hopefully the doctor will be in before they get bored with them. I barely get one of the gowns on Sister when the doctor comes in! It was less than 10 minutes. Maybe less than 5. And right away, I remember why I love this pediatrician so much. She immediately begins talking to the kids. She asks Sister if she can button and zip, how high can she count, what color of vegetables she eats, etc. She doesn't even direct a question toward me during the checkup. And she is so patient with Brother, who is right there, wanting to know everything she is doing. She doesn't bat an eye when Baby starts screaming and I have to nurse her. She spent time with us. She talked to us. She answered questions. It was Doctor Visit Nirvaneh. Then came Baby's turn. As it turns out, her waking at night to nurse isn't a physical problem, it is a mommy indulging problem. Some of you are smiling, and perhaps even giggling a bit, as if to say, "I knew it". But I have the advice of an expert and will someday...perhaps, act on it. But the real surprise came when she asked how many words Baby could say. "Well," I said, "she's not really saying words. She makes a lot of sounds." I thought Sister was talking by this age, but I knew kids with older siblings might not talk as early because brothers and sisters do the talking for them. But the doctor wanted to do a tympanogram to test her hearing. As it turns out, she has a lot of fluid in her ears and isn't hearing normally. So now we're going to give her allergy medication daily to see if it helps and take her back in a month. See what I mean? My children are given wonderful care and attention to the smallest detail from this amazing woman. She is an angel...a mother of five herself. I love her.

A few more days like this and I might actually start to think I can be Supermom.