Preschool medical professionals

I can't tell you why, but every time I hear the words "Do you want to play doctor?" I begin to snicker. Perhaps you do as well. Just in case you haven't noticed , however, the activity once requiring compete doctor/patient confidentially has evolved. The preschool medical professionals have clearly moved on from private part anatomy to diagnosing complex sniffles.

JuJu, the near-five middle triplet recently completed Elmo medical school and is our resident physician. So last evening when she asked Alec, Vivi & I if we wanted to play doctor, I snickered and said "OK." It wasn't like the chicken nuggets in the oven would be done anytime soon.

JuJu eagerly grabbed her little blue Elmo doctor's kit and told me to lay down on the carpet. Vivi introduced herself as the nurse, and from what I could gather Alec was a medical assistant (he grabbed a pillow and put it under my head - nice touch). JuJu had begun the exam in her typical way by shoving the "object with the little round mirror on the end" into my mouth and scraping my cheeks, teeth and tongue...kind of gross you say...I suppose.

Before she could reach for her "plastic blue and yellow gizmo that she puts into her ears and listens to my heart", Alec the oh-so-fired medical assistant grabbed her "tiny rectangular black box with numbers that beeps" and ran away. Yes, I'm referring to her pager and she knows that it's a pager and an important part of being a doctor. So like any doctor whose pager has been compromised, she totally loses it, yells and cries, and then drops what she's doing and sprints after that soon-to-be-dead M.A. I say "Dr. JuJu...don't cry...doctors don't cry."

After about ten circles around the big couch and with an assist from her patient, Dr. JuJu regains control of her pager and the exam ensues. Eventually, the exam ends with no real diagnosis. I'm thinking "what am I paying for here?" Dr. JuJu then said "don't worry Daddy, everything is all right" and she proceeded to gently give me a shot...how sweet and I hope that I can be as comforting to the good doctor when she and the other two preschool medical professionals go in for their pre-K shots next month!

Oh yes, you may ask what did the young Vivi nurse do while all this was going on? Well, she asked me what nurses are supposed to do? I said to go upstairs and ask Mom MD. She came down and said "Nurses help you get better." - I said "good answer...Mom MD."

Here's to questions by preschoolers - Vivi asked me the other day "How do babies get out of your tummy?" Answer from R.E. Dad, NOT Mom MD - "Now that's up to the doctor to decide." - pretty good huh? I didn't lie............