Let's Play Doctor!

The two older kids have a toy doctor's kit that one of them got as a gift. Currently, it's got a stethoscope (which the Girl can actually pronounce! Proud Daddy moment!), a thermometer, a blood pressure sleeve, and one of the things that doctors use to look in your eyes, ears, nose, throat, and belly button (at least that's what I have told our kids). I am pretty sure the kit is missing some pieces, because I seem to remember that it used to have a little hammer for checking reflexes and a pretend bandage that could fit on a child's wrist. I have seen the bandage fairly recently, so I am sure that it exists. The hammer seems to have disappeared into the toy abyss in the basement, so that may have been a figment of my imagination.

I trust both my kids' doctoring skills more than I would Dr. Nick Riviera's. Photo courtesy of simpsons.wikia.com

Lately, both the Girl and the Boy have been very excited to play with their doctor's kit, a lot. Usually the Girl gets to be the Dr., and the Boy is happy to be the nurse, but some times he wants to be a Dr., as well. Daddy always gets to be the patient, whether I want to or not. Being the patient usually means I just have to sit down and let them do their examinations, but some times I lay on the floor, moaning and rolling around like I am really in pain. I was doing that this morning, really getting into my role, when Dr. Girl told me "Just lay still! We need to give you your check up, so we're going to have to sit on your tummy!" That was all the cue that Nurse Boy needed, as he immediately ran over from the corner of the room and leaped on my stomach with all the force his 30 pound frame could muster. He then continued to jump on me, getting more and more air with every jump, until Daddy was truly rolling around on the floor, moaning in pain. It was very nearly the first ever successful Heimlich Maneuver ever performed by a 2-year-old on an unsuspecting, and non-choking, Daddy. Luckily his fervent bouncing resulted in ejecting his body from atop mine before anything came up. I think for the next exam I'll stick to sitting in a chair.