A Working Pediatrician’s Dilemma

Pediatric Blog

As a Pediatrician, part of my job is to give anticipatory guidance to parents on how to spend quality time with their child and what not to do. And one day I realized that I do many of the things I tell families not to do.

My sad realization came after the day my son almost burned his hand. After coming home from work and daycare, one of the evenings when my husband was still not home yet, I started preparing dinner. My son wanted my attention and kept on coming into the kitchen. I tried multiple ways to occupy him by giving him toys, something to color etc, but he really wanted to be with me. I did well when cutting the vegetables, and was half way into cooking with 3 burners going, when my little one reached up and put his hand on the stove. OMG. Luckily the burner he touched was off. The next day I got a stove guard. So when I felt that getting locks for the drawers and cabinets in kitchen made it safe, my child showed me how unsafe it still was.

Now I put him in front of TV with Sesame Street on so he can have fun with his friends Abby and Elmo while I cook somewhat peacefully. When it came down to the dangers of the kitchen versus the dangers of TV, I chose TV. As everyone does, I feel guilty about it. Here I tell parents to spend more time reading and not just put a child in front of the TV, and I end up doing the same.

My supportive husband tries to console me by saying that Sesame Street is not really TV because our son is learning. But what do I say when my son asks for it, as if it is part of his day? Our son may be learning from the TV show, but at the same time, he may be becoming dependent on TV. On the other hand, having the TV occupy our son on the days when my husband and I have deadlines is helpful but not ideal.

Although my son watches TV while I cook, I make an extra effort on the days when my husband and I both are home or when I don’t have to cook dinner. And on weekends, we spend time reading or playing with our son rather than putting him in front of the TV.

I found that it is not an uncommon issue and so many of us are doing the same. I am open to suggestions from anyone who has mastered the art of finding a better balance between working fulltime and spending quality time with your child.