In Our Midst
SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE FAMILY'S DAY-TO-DAY LIFE:
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From the left, above, are a dinnertime scene with only the two older children at the table; Karen feeding Aiden some solid food (he gets most of his nourishment via a tube connected to the "button" on his stomach); Below: Karen comforting Andrew after a bad day at school; and waiting to see the doctor.
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SOME OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE FILM:
Ethicist Ronald Green: "One of the things [filmmaker] Richard [Kahn] spent a lot of the time watching was feeding issues. To me a remarkable scene is where the family sits down to eat and it's the mom and the dad and the two older boys. They say grace. And the other two kids are not there. You see beside the table the Pedia Sure, the tubes. So the family has two different food regimens. These are youngsters way beyond the NICU now."
SOME SCENES FROM THE FILM:
Andrew comes home from school upset about a test he did poorly on, and Karen comforts him as they look at the test together. Karen: "You should feel good about this part. It's just this one piece and I know you can do it. . . . I'm not mad, because I know you studied. You worked really hard. What have you got tonight?" Andrew: "Math." Karen: "Oh you can do those, right?" Andrew starts to cry. Karen: "You forgot your math book?" Andrew cries harder. Karen: "Okay, all right, relax. I'll call Dad. Maybe he can stop by and get it." When she can't reach Bob on the phone, she turns to big brother Alex. Karen: "Hey, Alex, Dad's not at work. Could you put your shoes on and walk Andrew back to school? He forgot his math book." Alex cheerfully puts on his shoes and walks his brother back to school.
But even this family gets impatient sometimes. Karen and Bob are at the doctor's with Allison and Aiden. Bob asks how long the wait is likely to be. "It takes a long time. It takes a very long time," Karen snaps. One thing the film shows is how much time the family spends on health-care issues.