“How did your daughter get those bruises?” asked the doctor at the clinic.

Joella (31) is married to Kees (36) and mother of Ivy (3) and Seb (1).

Until two years ago, I thought it was a bit exciting, those dates at the health clinic. Especially because Ivy was our first child and I, a perfectionist pur sang, wanted to do everything right. From vitamin D drops to the amount of milk she drank: I kept everything in a book so that I wouldn’t be faced with surprises when I was face to face with the pediatrician.

Nervous

When Ivy was 1.5, we had another appointment. Seb was off that day, but because I wanted to be there, I left work early. Once accepted, we neatly undressed Ivy to her diaper and after her height and weight had been measured, we were allowed to enter the doctor. I was extremely nervous.

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To cry

The pediatrician was about to grab the toy blocks to do some tests on Ivy when his eye fell on her arm. First he looked at me, then Seb, then asked in surprise, “Say, how did she get those bruises?”

I stiffened. Did I grab her too tightly while bathing last night? Or has something happened at the nursery? But just as I was about to burst into tears, Seb burst out laughing.

craft morning

What turned out? He’d been tinkering with her that morning, and the blue paint had left a slight haze on her arm. “Will get out if we give her a bath tonight,” he thought. Not knowing that the pediatrician would notice the spots.

Relieved, but also and a wise lesson richer I walked out of the room a few minutes later: never paint with your child if you have to go to the child health clinic.

Curious about more ‘That went wrong’ stories? You can read them every Monday on Kekmama.nl.