Every now and then, one of our kids will run in early on Saturday mornings and say: “Mama, can you clean my ears?” And somehow that turns into a line of siblings waiting for their turn. No fear. No tears. No convincing. Just another normal part of life. I think part of that comes from my own childhood. Maybe it’s the audiologist in me. Maybe it’s the Chinese side of me. In many Asian cultures, ear cleaning is just something families do. It’s not viewed as strange or scary. It’s a normal part of self-care, right up there with brushing your teeth or trimming your nails. So growing up, I loved when my ENT cleaned my ears. I would sit still as a statue with a grin on my face. It was relaxing and felt good. He’d explain what he was doing, tell me what I might feel (“a little tickle”), and somehow made it all seem completely ordinary. So that’s what I do with my kids, patients included. No scary stories. No making ears seem fragile. Just matter-of-fact conversations about tak...