Not Okay

“I don’t feel like it”

Dad had brought him to see me

15 years old …

Cheerful lad

With SO. MUCH. POTENTIAL

That was his response to my question regarding his father’s allegations

“He won’t do his homework”

I had excused dad and asked to speak to him one on one.

“I just don’t feel like it”

Homework that is!

“Ohh” I said

“I totally get it”

“I feel you on that one”

I continued…

“Interestingly though, there are soooo many things you do already that you don’t feel like doing…

I wasn’t done

“Like bathing”

“Putting on clothes”

“Deodorizing”

“Going to the bathroom to use the bathroom”

“All those inconveniences…

Necessary inconveniences

Because there is an understanding of the consequences if not done..

Like ending up in a hospital for going out naked because you didn’t feel like dressing up ”

I see… he responded …

We discussed unwanted consequences of not doing homework…

How Shooting own foot is a no-no!

Discussed strategies to help with focus

Enlisted parents help to assist with crushing goals and to remove their contributions to the noise

Discussed “means to an end” principles

How finishing homework gets you closer to finishing high school…

And how finishing high school earns a diploma to open doors to some form of independence…

It’s okay to not feel like it

You do it anyway

Don’t always act how you feel.

I gotta tell you… I enjoy conversations with my teen patients!

In health,

Dr. Olabintan

Author

Dr. Tolulope Olabintan MD, AAHIVS, FAAFP, dipABLM Dr. Tolulope Olabintan is the Co-Founder and Medical Director of Livingspring Family Medical Center. She is a Christian, Family Physician, writer, mentor, mother and wife. She takes joy in empowering her patients and readers to live their fullest lives possible. She helps patients live long and well as she believes that the quality of life is just as important as the quantity of life. She is also a foodie and loves the colors teal and orange. Dr. Olabintan completed her medical degree at UMDNJ Rutgers Medical School in 2007. Dr. O went on to finish her Family Medicine Residency from Albert Einstein College of Medicine Family Medicine residency where she also served as a Chief Resident. She then went on to complete a women’s health/surgical obstetrics fellowship at St Francis hospital in 2011. She is a board-certified Family Physician, Lifestyle Medicine, a HIV specialist and a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians.