Middle Duckling
Shopping with the Eldest and the Youngest over the long weekend was pleasant and fun but I always particularly enjoy time with my quiet Middle Duckling. Yesterday was back-to-school physical day so I had more than usual.
Middle Duckling doesn't say much but of the three he's the easiest to just Be With. We walked from school to my office in near-silence but once there he calmly said "well I'll do my homework and then while you're at your meeting I'll draw." Such a pleasure! During the few minutes before his appointment, he worked quietly at his table and I worked quietly at mine and it was peacefully complete...unlike when the girls visit and the chaos lingers for days. I totally adore my girls but they cut a much wider swath.
We showed up at 3:05 for our 3:20 appointment and were ushered into a room by 3:25 but then had a long wait. We amused ourselves making gentle fun of the reading material in the exam room: little-kid books and a boating magazine. Laughed out loud several times, agreed that boating seemed like a dumb and expensive hobby (apologies to watercraft enthusiasts) and had fine bonding time...but started to get miffed when we hadn't seen the doctor by 3:50.
I am MUCH better with authority figures than I used to be. When Middle Duckling said "Mom, don't you have a meeting to go to?" in tones of concern, I didn't stress for even one minute before saying "yes, at four-thirty. If the doctor hasn't come by four-ten we'll just have to leave and reschedule." Sure the nurses would've been shocked and stunned and pleaded with me to stay but I didn't care in the slightest. Waiting fifty minutes for a ten-minute well-child exam was outrageous and I had no intention of tolerating same.
THAT, my friends, represents a major step forward for me. Even a year ago I would've worked myself into a state of hypertensive frenzy while accepting a possibly indefinite wait and thinking I'd have to find someone to fill in at my meeting. No more.
Fortunately the doctor arrived at 3:55 and we were back to my office by 4:15. True to his word, Middle Duckling set up shop with his markers and said "Don't worry Mom, I'll be fine" as I went off to my meeting. He was still happily drawing when I returned a half-hour later--Eldest would've been all over the office, had half the drawer contents out on the desktops and chatted up all the secretaries in that same time. (All of which is good and charming but also emotionally tiring.) We had a very fine walk through the hospital to the parking lot...hard to explain quiet bonding time but I'm sure you all know what I mean.
It made me all warm and fuzzy inside when he said "you know I really like this place. It's interesting and QUIET." I feel exactly the same way.
Middle Duckling doesn't say much but of the three he's the easiest to just Be With. We walked from school to my office in near-silence but once there he calmly said "well I'll do my homework and then while you're at your meeting I'll draw." Such a pleasure! During the few minutes before his appointment, he worked quietly at his table and I worked quietly at mine and it was peacefully complete...unlike when the girls visit and the chaos lingers for days. I totally adore my girls but they cut a much wider swath.
We showed up at 3:05 for our 3:20 appointment and were ushered into a room by 3:25 but then had a long wait. We amused ourselves making gentle fun of the reading material in the exam room: little-kid books and a boating magazine. Laughed out loud several times, agreed that boating seemed like a dumb and expensive hobby (apologies to watercraft enthusiasts) and had fine bonding time...but started to get miffed when we hadn't seen the doctor by 3:50.
I am MUCH better with authority figures than I used to be. When Middle Duckling said "Mom, don't you have a meeting to go to?" in tones of concern, I didn't stress for even one minute before saying "yes, at four-thirty. If the doctor hasn't come by four-ten we'll just have to leave and reschedule." Sure the nurses would've been shocked and stunned and pleaded with me to stay but I didn't care in the slightest. Waiting fifty minutes for a ten-minute well-child exam was outrageous and I had no intention of tolerating same.
THAT, my friends, represents a major step forward for me. Even a year ago I would've worked myself into a state of hypertensive frenzy while accepting a possibly indefinite wait and thinking I'd have to find someone to fill in at my meeting. No more.
Fortunately the doctor arrived at 3:55 and we were back to my office by 4:15. True to his word, Middle Duckling set up shop with his markers and said "Don't worry Mom, I'll be fine" as I went off to my meeting. He was still happily drawing when I returned a half-hour later--Eldest would've been all over the office, had half the drawer contents out on the desktops and chatted up all the secretaries in that same time. (All of which is good and charming but also emotionally tiring.) We had a very fine walk through the hospital to the parking lot...hard to explain quiet bonding time but I'm sure you all know what I mean.
It made me all warm and fuzzy inside when he said "you know I really like this place. It's interesting and QUIET." I feel exactly the same way.
posted by SamD | 8:41 AM
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