Today we celebrate the birth of our Oldest Noisykid Daughter. She is out with most of the other ladies of the house; we kept the baby. They were going to visit Home Depot, I think:
Afterwards, off to an Italian restaurant:
Even with my lactose intolerance I just love that video.
Then they saw this 7-minute scene at the Italian restaurant:
She is almost ready to get her driver's license. Here is a clip from our home schooling driver's education classes. Please note that these are not my children:
We are blessed by our daughter as we are by all of them. We pray for her, especially for her vocation.
If one of my daughters asked me about becoming a doctor, I would not recommend this line of work to them. When men and women are young and foolish, some of them get it into their heads to enter the field of medicine. In college this swarm of creatures were known as 'pre-med,' and they directed their every waking moment to the realization of that goal.
Something happened along the way, and most of the students were cured of their obsession. They went on to become useful and productive citizens. They worked and picked up a steady paycheck while a few continued on the long path of medicine. They married and started families, while those in medical school racked up debt and lack of sleep.
In my own case, I married Wifeofdadwithnoisykids half-way through medical school. As time went on, little Noisykids started to populate our efficiency, then our townhouse, then our house. For each of their deliveries, I was blessed to be able to get off work to see them born.
Oldest Daughter Noisykid was born during my internship. We had just gotten back to our house in Detroit after visiting some relatives when we had to leave for the hospital.
Unfortunately, I was not always able to be there for a lot of other events in my family's life. There were little insignificant things which happened that were never seen by me. There were other times which were important but were missed because of the obligations of working as a resident, fellow, or attending physician. Even now, when my family is recalling something that happened during those years, I will state that I don't remember. They will often tell me that is because I wasn't there.
While I love my work, I know that it has come with a price which at times is not worth the cost in my personal life. Just consider the times I have had to disappoint my wife because I couldn't be there for her. It is for this reason that I would steer my daughters away from the medical field, because the toll on a mother who is also a doctor is just too great. Raising children is a far better vocation than that of a doctor.
I base these thoughts on my own experience, and from observing women doctors who are torn between their patients and their family. It is a hard to serve two masters.
8 comments:
My eldest (nearly 21) will qualify as a doctor age 23. She is totally dedicated to God, her family & her vocation as a pro-life doctor. We need her expertise. she is particularly balanced & particularly Catholic. She may serve the missions in Miles Jesu..the Epiphany Medical Missionaries. She may marry her darling of a boyfriend..he is totally devoted to her..well she's a beautiful blonde! i pray for more of my children to become highly educated. Kate's just gone up to Uni to read English. She has a brilliant mind..& will probably become a lawyer..she's beautiful too..Marriage & these important vocations & ministries are enormously important..don't you think?
They are tremendously important, but perhaps the two experiences are different? It would be very strange in America to find someone qualifying as a doctor at 23. THey would just be getting their undergrad degree. THen it would be 4 years of med school followed by more training (correct me if I'm wrong please dad.) Most doctors here aren't earning a living until their mid to late 20s at the earliest.
WHile medicine is a vital and necessary profession, I can see why a doctor might say to his children to study something else.
Happy Birthday!! May our good Lord Jesus bless you with many more birthdays. Whether you become a doctor, a mom, or whatever God calls you to...may it be just that... His calling on your heart. Always allow Him to guide you and you cannot go wrong. The road will be tough..but not unbearable.
Thank you for your best wishes for my daughter!
'the mom:' I finished medical school at 27 years of age. What followed was five years of internship/residency/fellowship, followed by four years of payback time in the Air Force. So at 36 years of age I started at the bottom of the pile again, as the most junior member of a group.
Delayed gratification.
Oh that seems so different from here..Jenny will start earning age 23!
Lots of the Christian women at our doctors work part time & do a good job raising their families..also i know a wonderfully large Catholic family who are both doctors & practice medicine. Blessed Gianna Molla did both too..
I am a 35 year old female Catholic physician who is currently not practicing and staying home with our children. We have an almost 4 year old, 2 year old twins, and a 4 month old. I totally agree with what you said. I cannot imagine now trying to handle a practice, a pager, and be there for my children. Some women might be able to, but I can't do it! My family is my career now. We are considering homeschooling as well.
I do some volunteering with a local crisis pregnancy center overseeing sonograms done by PAs, which I can mostly do from home. I am keeping my license in exempt status for this purpose.
I don't feel like going through medical school and residency was a mistake. I think I did some good, especially in my work at the crisis pregnancy center(I was there half-time). Maybe some day I will be in it again. Only God knows. Right now I don't want to miss out on my family!
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