When your dad is a pediatrician, a Father’s Day tale
Medical school graduation 1994: Dr. Julie Kardos with her pediatrician dad, Dr. Stephen Kardos
When your dad is a pediatrician
When your dad is a pediatrician, you never get to stay home from school for illness, feigned or real. Unless you are vomiting.
When your dad is a pediatrician, people call your home phone and ask you about symptoms of chickenpox, even when you are only ten years old.
When your dad is a pediatrician, you sit in booster seats long after your friends “outgrow” theirs.
When your dad is a pediatrician, you know to give that kid who feels like he is going to pass out in marching band at the 95 degree football game Gatorade or juice, not just plain water, because of “electrolytes.”
When your dad is a pediatrician, you do not have a curfew as a teen, because he is more concerned about you or your friend speeding to get home in time than about what time you get home.
When your dad is a pediatrician and you call home from college with an illness, he makes you go to Student Health because he knows it is very difficult to diagnose an illness on the phone. And he will NOT “just call in an antibiotic.”
When your dad is a pediatrician, you have extra security when leaving him to watch your own children, because not only will he show his grandchildren a grand time, but also he will know what to do if they get sick.
Thank you, Dad.
Happy Father’s Day!
Julie Kardos, MD
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