Dr. Tina Lepage

Who would think something so natural could be so hard? Given that our bodies need sleep to be both physically and mentally healthy, one would think humans would be born with the ability, maybe even the desire, to sleep, from day one. Not so as all parents will attest.

One day when Page was about three-and-a-half years old, arriving home after an afternoon of errands I put the groceries away only to turn around and find Page with marker all over her hands and marker stains all over my couch! (Truth be told these situations are less daunting than when I was growing up, because as a parent I only allowed washable markers and crayons into my home. Great invention!)

The recent tragic death of a child about my daughter’s age has me thinking about day to day life – how we go through motions that seem mundane, yet should we lose the opportunity for the mundane we would deeply mourn those hum-drum days. Because those typical, nothing-out-of-the-ordinary days are actually filled with connection and love. Upon reflection, when our children grow up and move away, we can look back at seemingly uninteresting rituals of an average day and see how brimming they were with meaning.

A couple of weeks ago in staff meeting, one of the clinicians was sharing her weekly update and describing the current hellish evening routine as her young son tantrums and is overall unpleasant. Interspersed with her vivid descriptions of trying to hold a difficult child with one arm and cook dinner for the family with the other hand, she would pause to say, “Oh, but being a mother is great.” Then back to reality and another description of how awful it is right now, followed by the disclaimer, “I know this sounds horrible, and it is right now, but really, it’s not that bad, I love being a mom.”

Each year we enter spring, the time for spring break vacation and for planning summer vacations. Finding a family vacation that works for everyone isn’t always easy. A child adds a whole new aspect to vacationing. Now you have people of vastly different ages – adults and children – trying to enjoy the same vacation. Our first vacation alone with Page (i.e., without Peter’s mother) was when Page was about a year and a half old. We went to the beach, and were soon staring at each other exhausted, saying, “How is this a vacation?” Awake at 6am after a previous of day of entertaining a child all day at the beach with all of the accompanying paraphernalia of beach toys, diaper bag, and snacks that come with a child, it seemed like work and not relaxation! Gone were the lazy beach days drinking various alcohol-infused drinks with umbrellas, and leisurely strolls along the shore.

Finding appropriate television shows for tweens to watch was a challenge for me. When Page was a child, she was allowed to watch the Disney channel, and all was well with the world. The shows geared toward the preschool to about 8 to 10-year-old crowd were great. Funny, interesting, and taught life lessons and skills such as math, geography, etc. in a fun way. When Page outgrew those, she started watching the Disney channel shows and other channels geared toward tweens and early teens. In my opinion, these shows were awful! Primarily because the kids were all mouthy. They had horrible attitudes and were just not nice. Very sassy, disrespectful, rude kids