This week, I’m writing about the power of words. If you could say anything to a child that would change things for the better, what would you say? The conversations around our dinner table these last weeks before the presidential election have been wonderful and enlightening. Flash back to my week in New Orleans with […]
A picture is worth a thousand words, and as often as I write about our city’s need for a free-standing, full service children’s hospital, I wondered recently if I ought to switch to pictures… I sent a letter to the editor of our local newspaper recently; they sent my letter back. “You need to edit seven hundred […]
The Carseat: One of the many things that parents spend a fair amount of time researching before the baby arrives and explaining after he’s old enough to question why it’s non-negotiable in the big scheme of things. “Your friend is five years older than you are…that’s why he doesn’t have a car seat. You have […]
I attended a Groundbreaking Ceremony for the VCU Medical Center/Children’s Hospital of Richmond and its “planned-for-2014” outpatient pediatric clinic facility… and I’m sure I was the only one who left in tears. Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU is the official name of our city’s only full service hospital for children, but most people would […]
You may have seen some of Atul Gawande’s titles on my bookshelf. He’s a gifted writer whose books have highlighted some of my biggest frustrations with the ‘medical machine’ and how it runs. The Checklist Manifesto is one of my favorites. Dr. Gawande is a master storyteller, and in the New Yorker article, he weaves together the […]
At our dinner table last evening that one of the kids asked: “What were your five fruit and vegetable servings today, Mom?” Flashback to the wellness visits earlier that day at my office. I ask kids all the time about their favorite fruits and vegetables, and I teach ‘Strive for five’ and ‘Eat around the rainbow.’ But […]