Blossoms: Wisteria is in bloom all over. I particularly like the wisteria that climbs up the walls of Frick Hall, the chemistry building at Princeton. The purple flowers present a pleasing contrast with the stone building.

Soccer Mom

This morning the twins and I went in search of our new pediatricians' office. When our old HMO folded we were forced to choose a new health plan and sign up with new doctors. We picked Oxford and selected a pediatric practice in Hamilton. I didn't actually know anything about the practice except that two of the five docs were women and they are all board certified. We've had better luck with female pediatricians, especially those who are mothers themselves. Also I prefer a practice with more than a few doctors so that if the primary care physician is unavailable there is another pediatrician we can see.

With Daniel's recent mysterious illness we wanted to be able to make an appointment for him this week if his symptoms return. Unfortunately our medical records from our old HMO are still in limbo. I thought it was a good idea to pick up the new patient forms and fill them out ahead of time so the practice would have some paperwork on our kids at least.

The waiting room was jammed with frazzled mothers and fretful, noisy children, which didn't instill me with a lot of confidence. It was fortunate that we didn't have to wait, as we would not have found seats. I hope the crowded condition was attributable simply to its being Monday morning and not indicative of problems with patient flow. A sign on the door said the practice would be moving to spacious new quarters soon, which will at least alleviate the crowding problem.

2:15 p.m. Tab just called to report the rather alarming news that the son of one of his co-workers was diagnosed yesterday with strep throat after a mysterious illness that went on for more than a week. His symptoms were similar to Daniel's: a low-grade fever that came and went, nausea, and occasional vomiting. He didn't complain of throat pain until just before his strep throat was diagnosed. Now Tab is worried that Daniel has strep, too. I guess we'll be taking him to the doctor's some time this week.

Daniel begins after school swimming lessons today. The lessons are Monday through Thursday for two weeks. I'll have to pick Daniel up at school at 3:30 in order to get to the pool for his 4:20 lesson. It means a lot of running around, but it will be worth it if we can build on the momentum of his weekend lessons. Stephanie has agreed to help out by staying with the twins for a few of these days so that I don't have to get them up early from their naps.

Tab joked, "You're becoming a soccer mom." It's true: I have the minivan and everything. Actually, it bugs me that the term has such a negative connotation. I guess it is human nature to label others, but it is dismissive and condescending. We designate categories--soccer moms, urban youth, yuppies, Gen-Xers--and assign various attributes to those groups. It's a lazy way of avoiding having to deal with people as individuals rather than as stereotypes.

Just one soccer mom's opinion.

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