no more, no less. a pediatrician looks at ALL parents as POTENTIAL abusers.

[Aristus]

2. I don't think it is.

I don't do well-child checks much anymore. It's not my target population. But when I do, I just want to smack the shit out of parents who smoke. I stopped being polite years ago.

I tell them: "You're killing your child".

They'll say: "I only smoke outside!" (Yeah, right...)

I reply: "Unless you're smoking in a hurricane, your smoke is settling in your hair and your clothes. Every time you hold your child close, they're breathing that stuff in. Plus, nicotine is skin-permeable; every time you touch your child, you're poisoning him."

Parents: "But I wash my hands after every cigarette!" (Yeah, right, again...)

Me: "It doesn't matter; even if you scrub your skin until it bleeds, you're still getting nicotine on your kids."

Smoking around children is a form of abuse, and I treat it as such.

Some people just shouldn't be parents...