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Why Raising Children Is So Hard

Photo: limaoscarjuliet

You don’t really know what an experience is like, of course, until you have it yourself.  I remember thinking to myself when my wife and I first began discussing the idea of having children that this was especially true regarding parenthood.  In the past I’d been able to predict with reasonable accuracy a number of novel experiences based on previous similar experiences, but no experience I’d yet had seemed even close to the experience of having a child (sorry, owning a pet doesn’t come close). Continue reading…

Stupid Fights

Photo: cogdogblog

I recently wanted to prescribe a medication called Prevacid for a patient.  It’s a proton pump inhibitor that shuts off acid production in the stomach.  It’s used to treat a wide variety of gastrointestinal complaints, most commonly heartburn, which is the malady I was aiming to treat in my patient.  She was strongly resistant to starting it, however—not so much out of concern about its safety (it’s quite safe), but because, like many people, she simply didn’t like taking medication.  I was sympathetic but also felt that Prevacid had the greatest chance to help her feel better.  A long discussion ensued after which she agreed to try it. Continue reading…