Write It Down

Today I feel the need to discuss important information. Children come with lots of instructions over the course of their lifetimes. (Yes, they truly do come with instructions.) As a busy mom, I often fail to recall the instructions that I've been given, so I've come to the conclusion that writing things down might actually make my life easier (assuming I can find the paper I write my instructions on)...

I took Kira to the doctor yesterday because her ear was hurting. Sure enough, she has an ear infection. I wasn't really surprised by this because she's never complained of her ear hurting before and that was a pretty big clue. So the doctor gives me a 'scrip for medicine and I go on my merry way. Well, the pharmacy labelled the bottle as giving her 2 tsps twice a day. Considering that most of her doses lately have been given in milliliters, I thought that perhaps this was incorrect. I had to call the doctor's office to verify the dosage and be sure I was giving her the correct amount. (Chalk it up to paranoia stemming from a previous experience with my eldest child where his father took him to the doctor and got the medicine - only to find out that the dosage on the bottle was completely wrong...)

I tell you all this to point out the simplest of solutions. I was quite tired. I know the doctor TOLD me what the medicine was and how much to give Kira. I distinctly recall the conversation where she was telling me this, but the numbers just slipped right out of my mind. If I had taken the trouble to just write it down, I would have easily been able to refer to my written references and cure my worries right away instead of having to wait until the nurse returned my call.

Over the course of the past few weeks there have been many times when a pen and a piece of paper might have made my life easier. I've found that my memory doesn't work very well in situations that cause me to be stressed.

Lessons Learned: Write down all those little bits of instruction that you receive, no matter how many times you receive the exact same instruction. You never know when what you thought was the thing to do will be not quite the right thing to do "this time".