Recently I went on a field trip with a class of kindergartners. They were all very excited, of course.

We had a couple of rambunctious ones in our car. Granted they're children and they are easily excitable, but some of the behavior surprised me: from cussing to screaming to emptying juice boxes on the driver's seats.

As we were heading home and I'd finished reprimanding some of our passengers, I sat back and thought about my own kids.

I guess we might be strict, which is laughable to me and my husband. I've come to realize how well behaved our kids are--they're polite and contentious.

As I set their dinner plates at the table and we sat down to eat, I told them just how much I appreciated them and how proud I was of their behavior. I acknowledged that I can sometimes be strict, but that they are good kids.

My kids then launched into a conversation about the third grade class where someone said the "S" and "H" words. Curious, I let my oldest tell her sister what they were: "Shut-up" and "Hell." I laughed a little inside--oh, how innocent they really are.

A few weeks ago Samantha and I went to Lucille Packard for her annual endocrine checkup. We already knew her levels were off--TSH was too high. Instead of working out medicine changes ahead of time, we thought we'd wait until we got there to talk it over with her doctor. She's a year or so from puberty so things could begin to change a lot. Knowing her history that is a worrisome prospect for us.

Our visit, however, didn't go as planned. We met a new doctor (which could have been my fault if I didn't specify when I called). He was unfamiliar to us, but marched in with her blood results. He listened to my concerns but dismissed every one. He didn't believe me when I said she wasn't normal (TSH resistant). He simply said that the labs were wrong and that he wouldn't change her dose. He knew nothing of her, her thyroid history, her medical history, none of it.

Samantha didn't say a whole lot. She was probably sensing my disbelief. I was so dumbfounded that I didn't speak up, which was the worst thing I could have done. He examined her said "Thanks for coming" and just walked out the door, addressing none of my concerns.

We left and I didn't know whether to be angry or cry.

When Samantha's levels are off it takes very little time before she becomes ill and she spirals out of control. Our regular endocrinologist would have never dismissed us and Samantha loves/trusts her.

So I called our pediatrician and got us in the next day. I explained what happened at LPCH and he was dumbfounded. I told him that I needed him to help me. We both know my child well and he knows that she can't go without a dose change if she's off. For crying out loud she went from normal to a TSH of 33 in two months when she was younger. It was serious and scary.

The pediatrician asked Samantha how she'd been feeling. She opened up to him and said that she's been sad and very angry. Even she knows what her body feels! My poor girl.

Our pediatrician agreed that it was dangerous to wait and so he changed her meds slightly. We started that day, tested this week, and guess what?! Samantha is now "normal."

Folks, fight for your child and don't let the doctor walk out the door like I did. Demand they address your concerns and make them read the damn chart. Samantha has been a patient there for 8.5 years. There is a decent-sized file on her!

I was bummed the other day when I discovered that I had slept through a very exciting and loud thunderstorm. I love thunderstorms because they are few and far between here in my part of California. And although we need rain desperately, I think the weather is making me blue.

Worse than winter blues, this weeklong rain has made every morning a drag. I feel unhappy, grumpy, just plain blah. Today the sky was light and I felt happy. Not soon after the rain started again.

I'm looking forward to the sun and the heat that will grace us this weekend. Hopefully it will light a fire under me, take me outside, and fill my backyard with laughter.

Although I have a small window in my home office, I enjoy taking my lunch outside on the patio for a bit of vitamin D. Some days, after work, I steal into the backyard and sit against the back of the house, facing south, and open a book. I long for that warmth on my face as I read and the sounds of neighborhood swirl around me.