Whether you are going to your general practitioner, or a specialist, it’s always a pain.  I’ve seen my fair share of doctors over the years, and have developed a system for relatively painless appointments. 

Things are always more complicated when you bring your young kids along with.  In addition to all the goodies you would normally bring in your diaper bag you should plan on bringing extra.  Many doctors don’t have many toys to play with.  And, let us be honest, doctor offices are a playground for germs.  I know my doctor has a system for cleaning toys that kids have played with.  But what if they miss something or get busy and don’t do it?

Our pediatrician has a well waiting room, and a sick waiting room.  But we still use the same restroom, and the same entry and exit doors.  The same check in counter.  As far as I’m concerned, it is always better safe than sorry. 

I bring toys for my kids, or special books. This solves the problem of places without toys and hopefully helps with places that do but may not be the cleanest.  It is inevitable for us, that my kids always manage to get hungry, so I bring a variety of extra snacks.  I always plan to be at the office early, by about 15 minutes.  Usually, when I am early, the office gets me in sooner making the whole process easier.  I have small special toys that I usually pick up in the dollar store for the actual exam room, just trying to buy a few more minutes of patient kids. 

And my final tip, is to be extra polite and smile often.  All day long doctors see grumpy sick people; you might as well be the exception as a happy sick person.

-Stephanie Wright