Home > Health > MOMania > Archives > 2007 > May > 09
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Preparing for parenthood
Are some careers better than others?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Prior to having my siblings and me, my mother was a pediatric nurse. Day in and day out in the mid-1960s, she helped treat sick children and reassure their frightened or confused parents. You might naturally think that her job prepared her for the uncertainties of parenthood better than any other. You would, however, be wrong.
Instead of being a calming force, the knowledge she gained in nursing school and from years of work only proved to scare her all the more when she held her own children in her arms. We weren’t a sickly lot, but my mother had us in the doctor’s office at the first sign of a sniffle. Our ailments were usually just symptoms of a cold, but she knew they could also be the signs of a rare, degenerative disease found only in populations of people living in the Himalayas. We called my pediatrician by his first name (Dr. Harry), and the nurses on staff greeted us like we were Norm walking into the Cheers bar.
With a degree in political science and a career in politics, I had no idea of the ills that could hurt my children when we started our family (other than the opposition party’s policies), and I vowed not take them to the doctor at the drop of a pin. I threw that vow out the window a few weeks after my oldest was born but have now learned to trust my instincts on whether a trip to the pediatrician is in order.
Some people do bring useful life experience to the table when they become parents. One of my friends worked with autistic children before she became pregnant herself. Years later, her oldest child was diagnosed with autism. Her former career didn’t soften the blow of her son’s diagnosis, but over the years, her work experience has proved very helpful. However, the truth is, no matter what our backgrounds, we’re all novices when we hold our first babies.
Did your career prepare you for parenthood? Did you feel your parental instincts kick-in at your baby’s birth, or did they develop over time? What would be the ideal job to prepare people for parenthood?
Permalink | Comments (16) | Categories: Family Life
