When your toddler is unwell, it’s an opportunity for the whole world to tell you what to do and what not to do. So, when my daughter recently came down with the flu, I had to actually turn my phone off because everyone seemed to have “very good advice” for me, to the point that I could not put her to bed without someone calling me on my mobile telling me what to do.
OK, it was all well meaning, but when you are sleep-deprived and have a bawling toddler to deal with, the last thing you need is to keep running to the phone. I was doing what I could and it was working, but no one wanted to know that. They just wanted to be heard.
I took her to the doc, so it was for him really to tell me what to do. But, in India especially, everyone wants to part with wisdom, never mind that it may not even apply to you! Ok, so I was aware about the whole don’t-give-under-twos-cough-syrup thing and was following that. But even if I told family and friends that, they’d warn me anyway.
I appreciate the concern, but the next time she has the flu, I am telling no one, no one at all!
You know, there’s this folk tale about how a wise man was asked what was the most common profession people have, and the answer was? You guessed it, doctor!
Ha Ha, that’s a good one! I’d forgotten about this post I wrote! Gosh, it seems like it was decades ago!