Kids Are Like Boomerangs

Or double-edged swords, perhaps…

“Parenting without a sense of humor is like being an accountant who sucks at math.”

— Amber Dusick

I spent the back half of 2001 at Mater Children’s Hospital in Brisbane, Australia, pursuing advanced training in pediatric critical care.

For the first (and only) time in my life I felt like royalty. As one of the physicians attached to the Royal Flying Doctor Service, I periodically lifted off the hospital roof in a helicopter emblazoned with RFDS in giant letters, dropped from the sky like a conquering hero into small Australian towns with names like Gympie, strode with my team (clad in Royal Flying Doctor Service jumpsuits) into the local hospitals, scooped up critically ill children and whisked them back to the tertiary care hospital Brisbane. I felt like king of the world.

(The real heroes, of course, were the pilots, who could calmly land those birds on a postage stamp in stiff Australian winds, unfazed by surrounding high tension wires.)

It was awesome. But the medical angle was only part of the glorious experience of living Down Under.

The astonishing array of exotic creatures that inhabit Australia are testament to the colour and character of the place: unforgettable critters like kangaroos, koala bears…