Tags: Love These Guys | Parenting | Physician Mother Stories

As a child, I grew up with both my grandmother and my great grandmother around, and I knew that I had something special. Their ideas about what it meant to grow up healthy: what I should eat, how my posture affected my attitude, how little sleep I seemed to get...those ideas gave birth to the perspective I now teach to others.  I feel certain they said many of the same things my parents said, but somehow it just came out sounding smarter with the wisdom of sages.

I have come to respect and cherish the wisdom of my elders even more so, now that I am a parent myself. I often do tell parents what my Grandma "always used to say" as the mother in my story illustrates whenever I come across some teachable moment in the context of a visit to the doctor's office!

Although I heard my fair share of unsolicited advice as a new mother myself, I confess that even then, I tried to listen carefully. The Grandma Folklore abounds with ideas to cure colic, diagnose teething, and more importantly in my case...get a baby to sleep through the night. As a mother, there were many times I wondered what my own mom or my grandmother would have done with the child in my arms, whether he was sick and refusing to swallow medicine or she was sobbing and upset with a school friend. Lucky for me, all I had to do was ask those wonderful women in my life. Not everyone is so fortunate to have Elder Wisdom around.

When I stumbled on the ElderWisdomCircle.com website a number of years ago, I was absolutely delighted with the idea. It's an online community of grandparents who have agreed to offer advice and answer questions. I wrote in, just to see what they would say...honestly sharing one of my own struggles. I was ready to give up on the Family Dinner because ours had degenerated into the chaos of competing conversations and complaining about the vegetables. My letter and the author's wise reply are still in the archives.

The need to have advice from a wise confident is not limited to grown-ups. Watch...

I'm not exactly sure why I chose to 'download' the idea of ElderWisdom this week.  Perhaps it is simply the need to acknowledge all the many ways parents and children can create healthier lives.  Meaningful connections to the wise people around us, whether they are real or virtual, is important.  The wisdom of those who have gone before us is something to appreciate and use often.  Is it time to call your mother?