Thursday, October 30, 2008

Truly a Mean Mother

I am a mean mother. Truly. Seriously. Without a doubt. Let me tell you why.

The pediatrician was having a flu shot clinic today from 2-4. Caleb gets home at 2:30 and by the time everyone was ready to go we left the house at 3:15. Not a big deal, right? Until you consider half of the kids in town got there before us. We waited outside for almost an hour before we got to the front of the line. I instructed my kids to stand with me in line. They could play (Camille brought her new stuffed monster and Caleb brought his take home reader for school) but I wanted them to stay close. Camille did a great job, but Caleb had some trouble staying close and playing nicely (although he did help me out immensely by taking his sister inside to go potty while we waited).

Anyway, when we finally got our turn the nurse informed me that Caleb and Camille were old enough for the Flu Mist vaccine but Chloe would have to have the traditional shot. Did I want to get that for them?

Well, I am a mean mother. Of course I told the nurse it was shots for everyone. I thought it would be only fair for Chloe that if she was getting a shot everyone else should too. (Although when I think about it, I have to admit that if Caleb had behaved the whole time I probably would have gotten him the other vaccine.)

Camille did great - she cried for about twenty seconds when she got her shot, then was fine (especially when they gave her a Snow White sticker). Chloe did great - she cried for about twenty seconds and then was fine.

Caleb...Well, Caleb threw a giant stink about it, claiming he was scared of needles. He threw a tantrum for a minute and a half (I'm talking about a giant tantrum) before I picked him up and held him so the nurse could give him the shot), probably scaring half the kids in the office and earning me sympathetic looks from other parents in the room. The funny part was that he STOPPED crying WHILE they gave him the shot. And afterward he declared, "That didn't hurt!" Duh! Hopefully the next time will be much easier!

1 comment:

Tieky Torch said...

Amanda! Your hardly a mean mother!

I must tell you that I went to get my vaccines for my new job, got a dTap and blacked out hitting my head, and chipping my right front tooth. If there is someone afraid of needles, its me, but its always a funny thing to look back on.