Sunday, August 24, 2008

Dr JJ's Diary of a Doc: Allowing yourself a much needed 'Mom's Time Out'

One of the great perks I enjoy, since I travel a lot as president of MD Moms, is taking advantage of the opportunity to meet great moms and Baby Silk customers in any city I wake up in. A few months ago I had the privilege (for the second year in a row) of being the “in house” pediatrician for Mommy and Baby week at the Greenhouse Spa in Dallas.

Certainly, a week at a high end spa is usually only the subject of dreams for most of us (including me), so seizing an opportunity like this (4 days of sublime treatments in the company of several moms and adorable babies) was a no-brainer…..

I met a great group of moms from all backgrounds and walks of life as well as a few speakers who brought their insights and expertise to this event. Two moms had 4 kids under kindergarten age (twins made the math “easy” for both of them – one was a stay at home mom, and the other was a fulltime attorney in Washington DC), one mom had a very young one month old, one was having a last hurrah before returning to her position as an aerospace engineer at NASA, another a single mom/prosecuting attorney who had lost her home in Hurricane Katrina, a store owner, a foundation head and 2 mompreneurs – one who manufactures organic baby food and the other, socially responsible dog products.

These are lucky women – auspiciously not because they could afford the week at the Greenhouse (although I’d be lying if I didn’t acknowledge that), but because they have taken the time, with the support of their families, to recognize that relaxation, revitalization, and recreation were important enough to stop real life for a few days, and treat themselves to some needed rest, some healthy food, a few naps made possible by the help of in-house helpers, and an opportunity to make some new friends.

How often do we, as mothers in particular, sacrifice things like a good haircut, a meal or coffee out with a friend, or worse yet, a needed doctor’s appointment or yearly mammogram, because we are just “too busy?”

How often do we say “no thank you” when a friend, relative or colleague offers to take our kids out, drive them to school or daycare, or just give us a break?

While martyrdom was popular in the dark ages, there should be no role for it in our lives. Allow yourselves to take the time to assign your partner to your child for an hour, light some candles, and soak in a bath. Say yes to your neighbor, let her watch your child, and go get your hair cut or nails polished.

Grab your young one, and curl up together for a nap, and defer a few errands or chores to just suspend yourself in rest for a few minutes. Despite the fact that most of us don’t have a big budget for a spa, we can easily create some “aaah” time as a priority. You will find, as I have this week, that the world does not stop and implode when you are gone for a few minutes or hours. These breaks are difficult to take, but allow us to refresh our bodies, minds, and spirits so that we become better mothers, better partners, and better people.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Dr. JJ's Diary of a Doc: 8/10/08

It seems as though age is catching up with me – between my daily work in my pediatric practice, getting my son ready for his departure to the University of Michigan next week (Go Blue!), new construction in my office, and of course, serving as President of MD Moms, one would expect a grey-tinged person such as myself to stifle a few yawns………Believe it or not, I get enough sleep to prevent that from happening……………..UNTIL THIS WEEK!

Every four years my husband and family surrender and hand me over to my television set to live, eat and breathe the Olympic spirit. My issue this year is that the major network televising this marvelous event is broadcasting to the West Coast on tape delay – and you lucky folks on the East Coast get to view the games live! Why does that matter to me? Well, my TIVO broke long ago, I don’t have the necessary cable to watch a live feed, and I struggle to stay awake past my midnite bedtime to see history unfold once again.

After lifting my jaw off the floor (and my box of tear stained tissues) after the mind-bending opening ceremonies, I trudged, half asleep to bed with the knowledge that I would miss the torch being lit. I prided myself on my ability to stay awake, but swore under my breath when my neck hurt this morning from the odd yoga position I found myself in as I drifted off to sleep on my sofa.

I resolved to stay awake last night to see the pride of the University of Michigan, Michael Phelps, win his first gold and look to the stands for his mom, his inspiration. There went another box of tissue! However, with the intricacy of the opening ceremonies setting a high benchmark, do you think that the National Anthem could have been played correctly, and not awkwardly cut off at the end? Perhaps you all respond like I do at these medal ceremonies, silently mouthing the words and welling up in tears feeling the magnitude of the moment………and then our collective joy is cut short as the last stanza just drops off! Come on!

More importantly, I wanted to witness a more significant piece of history unfold – the debut of Dara Torres . She is a symbol of courage, talent, determination (OMG that 12 pack)! She is also a friend of the MD Moms, and her young Tessa wears our Baby Silk Babysafe Sunscreen Towelettes daily, while mom works out in Coral Gables. It angers me that the press speculates that her grueling schedule of workouts, and the transformation of her “middle aged” body is the result of doping. She has gone so far as to have her blood stored and frozen for any future analyses, to prove to the world, that greatness can come just with hard work and talent. She has something to prove, and serves as an inspiration to many individuals who feel that age is an impediment to accomplishment – especially in the realm of physical competition.

I never got to see Dara take the podium to win her Silver Medal last night…sleep overtook me and this morning I hope to find a rerun somewhere to recreate that moment….I anticipate that I will be yawning daily at work, quaffing more than my usual 2 coffees daily, and aiming home as soon as patients are out the door, to catch these moments of triumph and persistence, joy and disappointment, pride and pain, as these young (and middle aged) ambassadors of the world make us feel, for just a few days, that the worlds’ people could get along under one roof…..

OK, so enough rambling……….grab a pen, write to NBC, appeal to them to give me some live feed on the West Coast so I can sleep! NOT!

Enjoy the Olympics! ...and GO DARA!

JJ Levenstein, MD, FAAP

President, MD Moms – makers of Baby Silk