Dr Raley's Blog

11th Grade - the toughest year

I read an article this weekend about the stress and difficulty for the 11th grade for kids.  The number of AP classes and activities at this year in high school is increasing.  Many kids are becoming so burnt out and overwhelmed that when they start their application process for college they no longer want to go to a very competitive university environment because of their high school experience.  This bothers me that kids would put forth so much effort to then decide not to try and get into an ivy league or best university that they can.  They are forgoing a lot of other experiencing and then not wanting to reach for the bass ring at the end due to burn out. This is something we should be looking for in our high school kids and helping them balance their lives.  It is never to early to learn a little balance.  Some of the schools I read about had classes to help the kids find a better balance in their lives.  So as your kids are moving into high school and through the grades, please be on the look out for this.  I am interested to hear from high schooler parents to see if they are seeing this issue in our area.

Tulsa Zoo and School Week

My kids like to go the zoo and I like to take them there.  We always have a good time and hopefully learn a few fun facts while we are there.  But there is one week, I always to try to avoid during the year.  The week it seems like every school in state goes to the zoo.  When my kids were younger and I really did not worry about school schedules, we made the mistake of going on one of those days.  My kids were young and trying to keep track of them with a bunch of taller grade school kids running around was a nightmare.  We lasted about 1 hour and then drove back south to eat lunch.  So when we pulled in for our zoo tour with our school class yesterday and I saw all the buses, I had that strike of fear that you get when you have remember last time this happened.  But fortunately, every kid in the class had a Mom and keeping them together as a group was much easier then when it was just me and my one friend.  Two or Three strollers at the back of a group can really keep people out of your way.  The kids had a great time and we went the feed the bird exhibit.  This was a hit with all the kids.  So be sure to take zoo trip this summer but you may want to wait until next week.

Weekend/Mother's Day

Hope you all had a good weekend and Mother's Day.

This weekend we went to KEO and the food was really good.  We had a few appetizers, split a salad and had two entrees and they were all really good.  Then we went to KOA which is one of my favorites.  We had Magnolia cookies and Vanilla gelto.  If you have not had a magnolia cookie from there, you should go get one right now.  They are the best.  It is one dessert that I really think about for weeks and never disappointed when I get one.  This was a Mother's Day treat in and of itself for me.

Mother's Day the one day of the year that Mom is suppose to get a break but based on what I hear that still may not even happen on Mother's Day.  One lady I know said to me today " Mother's Day seems to never be really about the active Mom, because she is having everyone over to her house or making sure the grandmother's have a special day."  And by the way, this lady I know is a grandmother. 

Another friend of mine said she likes Mother's Day because it is the one day of the year when she does not have to decide which child is correct in the daily sibling issues, she sends them on to Dad.  That may be the best gift for Mother's day if you have more than one child.  But hopefully, everyone got at least one hour off to engage is some mindless pleasure that they normally do not get to do or that they did not have to empty the dishwasher on Mother's Day.  Mine seems to always be in need of emptying(I think that is one of those mother secrets that no one tells you, you get to empty the dishwasher at least twice a day).

My Mom can over for breakfast and we made yellow cornmeal bacon waffles, which are  really good.  What is not good with butter and bacon in them and Dr. Raley made dinner, so that got me off the hook.

Baby Formula

At Food Pyramid certain types of baby formula are on sale.  So this is a trip that might be worth your while.  I just bought 3 cans of the type of formula that I use for $5.00 each. I bought all they had at that price. I guess they are making some changes to brands that they are going to stock. 

Office Hour Change

The office hours have changed.

Monday 8am - 6pm

Tuesday - Friday - 8am - 5pm

Please make note of the change. 

But keep in mind, we can still have really busy days, so call early if you know you will need an appointment.  Additional well check appointment times have been added on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.   Remember summer well checks fill up fast, so schedule early.  Now is a great time to get your camp/sports forms and physicals filled out and scheduled.

Baby Monitor

Anyone have a baby monitor that they are not using and would sell to me?   I could use it.   Call the office if you have one around and you are not using it except to listen to your neighbors.

Ramblings

Electricity is good.  Dark/cold is bad.  Flu shot is good. The flu is bad.  Sleeping newborn is good. Crying newborn in the middle of night is bad. Had osso buco this weekend-that was good. Spilling formula b/c texting and trying to feed crying baby at same time is bad.

I have got Linkin Park tickets for OKC in Feb-definitely very good. Wilco at the Cains in March is great.  Started watching the 4 th season of the Wire in anticipation of 5th season in Jan.  Unbelievable show.

Getting ready to host our own site-will be able to update the site in real time-getting closer to on line scheduling and allowing day time email with nurses.

As winter approaches and the call volume increases-it may take 2-3 hrs for the nurse to get back with you when calling with a question. Please be patient.  They usually have about 10 calls an hour to respond to.

My first office video is coming along-very slowly. It looks like that it is going to be good-but I am   having to learn the new iMovie.

Have a good week-anyone need a Christmas turkey?- just come by the office.

12/11

looks like power out for a while? Maybe lucky-back tomorrow? You know if your power is on, your friends w/out hate you :) Anyway-page me tomorrow if you need an appt-and if you do-watch for falling trees!

Did you get out tonight. Freaky how dark it is-I am not sure if I have seen this before. Global warming?

A Last Lecture

Want something inspirational to watch-search this-  Dr. Randy Pausch-try youtube first.  Let me know what you think.

Etc

Watched "Weeds" last night on Showtime-I have not seen this before-this is a  pretty funny show-I will need to watch from the beginning.  Curb Your Enthusiasm started back up this weekend.  As usual-very funny.

We are going to be moving in about a month-anyone have a local mover that they have had good luck with-you know, I think I am past the-pizza and beer if you come help me move-however if anyone is interested I would spring for Hideway/Sierra Nevada rather than Bud Light/Domino's!

Seeing some vomiting and diarrhea over the last week.  Remember  it is harder to get dehydrated from just vomiting w/out diarrhea.  Small amount of fluid-pedialyte, gatorade, water- ( 1/2 ounce every 10-15 min) will usually maintain hydration.  Watch for  decreasing urine output, high fever, or blood in the stool.