Mommy Moments of Shame

Yes, I am officially the world's worst mother.

In the Dr.'s office today, brought both kids in for checkups:  Gavriel Zev for his 2-year checkup, okay, but also Naomi Rivka for her 4-year checkup (she's much closer to 5 now than to 4).

 

Anyway, we were also there because at one year, I decided to start doing catch-up vaccinations for GZ.  And then forgot.  Not forgot, exactly, just put it off.  Until January (three months after his birthday), when I panicked about bringing our unvaccinated baby to a foreign country.  I realize Israel isn't deepest Africa or South America, but I was still concerned about exposing him to foreign germs.

 

So I brought him in all eager to catch up on the vaxing.  I even brought notes, and the doctor helped me make intelligent notes I could read afterwards.  We sat and talked about the options (there are apparently very few)

And went to Israel.  And stuff happened.

And then, somehow, life happened... maybe while I was busy making other plans.

 

And all of a sudden, it's November.

 

My super-lame excuse about why I hadn't brought him back in 6 weeks, like she'd suggested?  "I guess the year sort of got away from us."

 

Anyway, the kids are healthy and growing well apart from a slight diaper rash and the festering sore on my son's leg.  Luckily, it wasn't in "full-fester" mode today, so she didn't have to report me, just prescribe cortison and an antibiotic cream.  I may be the world's worst mother, but I sure know how to toe the line between laziness and criminal neglect.  (In fairness, it was sort of going away for a while, and by the time it started really coming back, I'd already made our appointment for today, so I didn't bother taking him in sooner.)

 

I was even able to impressed the doctor slightly when she asked Naomi Rivka if she can spell her name by pointing out that Gavriel Zev had spelled R-I-V-K-A this morning!  He has no clue what it means, but between that and counting to ten, he sure comes off as a junior braniac.  While Naomi Rivka was cringing in the corner and whispering the initial N to prove she was acquiring some on-schedule literacy, GZ was climbing up in the chair next to me to show off his monkey poses.

 

The good news is that for Naomi Rivka, today was her last vaccination until Grade Seven.  She was a real wimp about it, crying before and after, needing to be held down, and complaining unceasingly for hours after we left the office.

 

Oh!  Did I mention GZ's health card expired?  I got a notice about mine, and vaguely remember seeing something about his as well.  Blah.  The doctor was nice and said they usually expire on the mother's birthday, not the child's, so she wasn't sure why his expired in September.  We also checked and discovered that Naomi's is expiring the same day as mine, in December, and I for sure didn't get a notice about hers.

 

So the receptionist started by saying we couldn't even see the doctor today, or at least, if we did see the doctor, we'd have to pay for it out of pocket.  But it turned out that there was a form I had to sign and hopefully they can get his current health number released from the Ministry and get reimbursed, so they don't have to send us a bill.  I hope.