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January 2006

I�m Glad I Watch Cartoons with my Kids

Of course, we don�t advocate watching too much TV. But today, all those mornings of watching Dora with my 3-year-old paid off.

I walked into a room to do a 2 year check up.

Now let me stop there for a second and explain how most 2 year check ups go.

Doctor walks into room.

Child screams and crawls all over mom for 5 minutes while doctor pretends to do exam.

Doctor answers mom�s questions while child screams for 10 minutes.

Doctor leaves and goes to find the Tylenol for his headache.

We purposely only schedule one or two 2 year check ups each day. They are just no fun for anybody. But a little girl I saw today actually held the key to a happy doctor�s visit right in her hands.

I walked in, and as she began to climb up over her mom�s shoulder to hide, I saw a little Dora figure in her hand. I said to her, �Wow, you have Dora! Hola!�

For those of you who don�t watch cartoons with your kids, Dora is a cute little cartoon girl who explores her neighborhood while teaching our kids Spanish. My little guy loves it. We even have a few books.

So when I mentioned �Dora� to that little girl, she stopped, turned around, and gave me this very curious look. I think she was considering giving me a second chance. But when I noticed she had Boots in her other hand (Dora�s pet monkey) and asked her if I could play with Boots, she actually smiled.

But there�s more. I wasn�t going to stop there. I was so excited about the possibility of a happy 2 year check up. She had the coolest of all Dora characters in her hand as well � Swiper, that crafty little fox that likes to steal things.

For those of you who watch Dora, you probably know what I said to her next. For you non-watchers, you�re going to think I�m really weird. I told her, �Swiper, no swiping! Swiper, no swiping! Swiper, no swiping!� Yup, not once, not twice, but three times. Just like Dora herself does in every show and every book.

Well, it was all over after that. I mean, her fussing was all over, not the checkup. I was �cool� in her eyes. I not only knew Dora, I new SWIPER! Her face lit up and we got to play together for the next 14 minutes. It was awesome.

So, for those of you with 18 to 24 month old kids, be sure to bring their favorite toy along to their check up. Hopefully your doctor watches Dora too.

Dr. Bob

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