Back to School Pediatrics

The Wait Is Over

Mom, Dad, GiGi, Papa – you did it! You managed the total chaos of summer and you did it with poise. Summer sports, schedule changes, going to work and  hoping your kids don’t burn down the house while you’re gone — You made it through another summer and hopefully you made a ton of memories that you and your kids can cherish for years to come.

But, now.. It’s back to school. For your kids, it could be depressing depending on how much angst is coursing through your teenager’s veins. Or, it could be the best moment to date in your new kindergartner’s life. Either way, it marks another summer in the books and means that routine is finally back again!

Though us parents enjoy the routine that school brings to our lives, there are some things about school that none of us look forward to. The worst being – our kids getting sick!

The Ugly Truth

Preventing sickness is, obviously, the goal. However, I am here to tell you that no amount of hand washing or hand sanitizer is going to save your children from the inevitable fate of getting sick. Although you teach good hand washing habits and you know they wash their hands like they should at home, those 7-8-hour school days are a different story. As a pediatric provider, there is one thing that I like to tell all parents —

“Expect your kids to get sick.”

It is just a part of life. The sooner that we understand that our kids are going to get sick, the more that we can be prepared to handle the dark times coming. For example, it’s seven o’clock in the morning and little Johnny still isn’t awake. You’ve yelled twice already without acknowledgement of life. You’re running late and you still have a fight to win with the school drop off line. You know where this is going. You find little Johnny in bed burning up with a fever (insert reaction of your choice).

Now, we have a dilemma. Scrambling to figure out what to do next. They can’t go to school like this, can they? Do I just give them Tylenol and hope the school doesn’t call me? No. What if I try to pawn them off on grandma? No, she can’t watch them today, she has that thing! Do I have to call in? I don’t want to call in again! Maybe the school won’t notice – am I a bad parent? It is a literal nightmare in broad daylight. Plus, not only do you have a sick kid, you have to figure out why they are sick, are they okay, and how to get them to a doctor. Because, we cannot forget that in order to get them back into school, you basically have to have a letter signed by the president.

But…

If we expect that our kids are going to get sick and we are prepared to handle those moments, then things like our sanity will remain intact.

What To Do

This may be where a clinic like ours can help. Currently, we offer same day sick visits, telehealth visits, and even concierge services where we come to your home. Our goal, at JM Wellness & Aesthetics, is to help alleviate some of the stress on an already very stressful day. Some of the services that we offer in clinic as well as that we can bring to your home:

• Focused exam and assessment by a nurse practitioner
• Medication administration for common problems, such as fever
• Management of asthma, including nebulizer treatments and oral steroids
• Strep testing
• Covid-19 testing
• Prescription management
• Specialist referral
• Lab testing referral

Again, our goal is to help make a dark day a little brighter for you by taking the load off, and the overarching theme is ensuring your child is well taken care of.

Schedule your appointment today: https://practice.kareo.com/jmfamilywellness