Mother of Pre-teen Daughter
Pediatric Nurse Practitioner
Amherst, Massachusetts

As a busy working mom, it can be hard to stay on top of it all: from knowing all the trends to just being “in sync” with your kids. One of those trends is cough medicine abuse.

I’ve been a pediatric nurse practitioner for 21 years. I work in the health center of a high school and interact with dozens of teenagers every day, and even I was surprised when I first learned of kids using over-the-counter cough medicines to get high. Now, it’s an issue I address with the kids I treat.

But it’s the parents, right here in Amherst, Massachusetts, and all over the country, who really need to know what’s going on. Being a parent means paying attention to what is happening and knowing how to talk about it with your kids.

Like any mom, I try to talk to my daughter about the tough stuff. It’s not easy to be a teenager today, and it wasn’t the easiest thing for me to bring up cough medicine abuse with her. While I trust her implicitly, it is still my responsibility to talk to her about it, just like I talk to my kids at school.

Together, we set some boundaries at home. Our computer stays in the dining room so that I can stay involved in her online activities. And she knows where she can and can’t go on the Internet. At this age, the web is for school work, getting information, and occasionally instant messaging with her friends.

Every day I make the decision to be a better parent. Being a part of this campaign is one way I can achieve this goal. Challenges come up all the time, but confronting them head on only makes us stronger. The best life we can all live includes helping each other understand what is going on and learning how to address it.