I'm doing 42 things
Being around kids all day, every day during my pediatrics clerkship forced me to at least develop a tolerance for children…and I even grew to like some of them…you know, the respectful, intelligent few who communicate on a fairly adult level. But I don’t like all adults, so I figure I can’t be expected to like all children. Throughout peds, I became more comfortable initiating conversation with children, which is better than a year ago, when I would avoid interaction with them at all costs. I also observed many bad parents, who should really be to blame for a lot of the annoying behavior of their children. How can their kids learn what is and is not socially acceptable if their parents let them say and do anything they want?
Still, I have no desire to call them “kiddos,” let them sit next to me, or hold babies, but I never expected to jump from hating kids to loving them. So I learned to like them enough that I no longer get annoyed to see them in a patient room, but not enough yet to want them around more than they have to be. That’s progress. And I figure if I learned to like them enough that I would like to have a few of my own some day, I can check it off my list.
