I was going to post this a couple of weeks ago, but I got busy and didn’t finish it. Now with a little editing and some finishing words I think it is ready to go. I am interested in the questions I pose and I would love some feedback from other parents. Where is it ok to bring your kids? What if you have no choice in where you need to bring them?
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I had a great post in my head and on some small pieces of paper in my car today while I was waiting for Aidan to finish preschool and Quinlan to finish his nap. It was started with the thought that I was going to take the boys to the blood donor clinic. I then started to think about where I take the boys and what they, especially Aidan, have seen and done. Where do people take their kids when they have no other choice?
When I was pregnant with Quinlan, Aidan was at all my doctors appointments. In fact because of the timing of the appointments, Aidan was at the appointments much more often than Anthony was. He heard Quinlan’s heartbeat at every appointment and if it looked like we were going to forget he was really quick to remind Dr. I. He bonded with Quinlan before he saw him. He was present and involved, and I wonder if this helped us avoid most of the sibling pitfalls you hear about.
I was not worried about how Aidan would react to the blood coming out of my body into the tubes and through to the bags. I knew that he would be ok. I knew he would ask lots of questions and be incredibly interested in what was happening. He was interested and wanted to know exactly how the blood was going to come out of me and go into someone else. I guess something got a little lost in the translation because he drew a picture of the blood coming out of me through tubes and into someone else via an elevator. Who knew that was the way of it?
On more mundane chores, both the boys go grocery shopping and on other errands with me. If I didn’t take them we would never have any free time on the weekends to do any fun family things. I don’t have a family support system out here in Vancouver, so I can’t leave the boys with their grandparents while I run out to go shopping. There is only so often Anthony can miss part of work for doctors and dentist appointments. The main reason I haven’t been to the dentist in a long time is that I draw the line at bringing the boys while I get my teeth cleaned or a cavity filled.
With Advent and Christmas coming up soon the boys will be on more and more errands. I will be the one trying to buy something for one or the other of them and not let them see at the same time. They will also be going to choir practices and other fun things. Plus I am looking forward to all the other holiday favourites like taking the Stanley Park Christmas Train, and going to see Santa Claus or making the holidays brighter for a family who is less fortunate. There are some things that are more fun with the boys and I am looking forward to every one of them.
Next time you guys are down, if you think Aidan would be interested I can show him the lab and a bit of what happens with the blood once it leaves you.
My dad used to bring us with him when he would donate blood. I don’t remember being weirded out by it, it was just something that my dad did.
As for getting other stuff done like the dentist and whatnot I agree with you. There are some places, like the dentist, that I don’t want to bring the kids with me. When I was home with the kids I’d have to schedule someone to come and watch them while I ran to my appointment. I do recall that because it was such a hassle that I too would just not go.
For tasks like shopping the husband and I will split up and we each take a kid and tackle different places. It is much easier to wrangle one child! I think I’m going to have to get Christmas shopping done either online after the kids to go bed, or during my lunch break because there is no way I’m taking them to the mall!
I take the kids with me most places I go. I have too. I’m in the same position of you where I can’t leave the kid with other people all that often and my husband can’t always be here either. Sometimes you just have to take the kids along. They’ve come with me to doctor’s appointments and such. I’ve so far managed to avoid taking them to the dentist and I wouldn’t take them to donate blood – but that’s do more to the length of the appointment rather than the blood bit. (My son cannot sit still for any length of time at all.) They come along on shopping trips and to the grocery store too. I will admit that if I can arrange to do this stuff by myself I do just because it’s easier but sometimes it can’t be helped.
.-= Marilyn (A Lot of Loves)´s last blog ..Tip of the Day: Removing Broken Egg Shell Bits =-.