Words of wisdom from a 4 year old...
Today I took Evelyn for her pediatrician check-up. Part of this included what all women learn to do, although we still can't believe we have to do it. That's it... pee in a cup. I'm not sure what all they check for with a child that young, but it made for some great comedy. Evelyn had never been subjected to such insanity before, so when I explained to her that she was going to sit on the potty while I held this little cup for her to pee in, she was incredulous. She kept looking at me like she was waiting for me to tell her I was just kidding. Finally, she said, "Mommy, what happens if I pee on your hands?" I assured her that I would thoroughly wash my hands after the whole ordeal was over, and she settled back on the potty. Then she sat up again and said in the most stoic voice ever, "Mommy, this really doesn't sound like a very good idea." Ha! No kidding.
Let's just say things went downhill from there. She had to have the routine finger prick test, which turned out to be enormously upsetting to her. Honestly, it was total meltdown mode. When she found out that she was going to get four shots, it went from bad to worse. She totally freaked out. It took a while for the nurse to get back with the shots, because they hadn't actually planned on doing those shots until two more weeks when she turns five, but since we were there, we went ahead and got everything done. It took three grown women to hold her down for the shots. She was flailing around on the table, struggling and begging the nurse to stop. It was shocking. I have never seen her anywhere near that out of control. While I had the Mommy feelings of sympathy for her, I mostly just kept thinking how over the top her reaction was to what was happening. Nobody likes shots, but they aren't catastrophic attacks on a body.
Then I remembered being a very young child (probably her same age, since it was before I had my tonsils removed) and how it took several people to hold me down when I got shots at my doctor's office. I had forgotten about any of that, but today, holding Evelyn in my arms and trying to reassure her that she really was okay, I was taken right back to Dr. Cole's office in Newnan, Georgia and the horror of shots during my own childhood. Horror... how funny that it seemed like such a horrible thing when I was little. My poor Mama must have felt the same mix of emotions that I felt today. We want to protect our kids, which means we never want them to hurt, but at the same time, we want them to take the sometimes painful steps that lead to prevention of much more serious consequences. We want them to have a life that is happy and wonderful, but we know that discomfort is sometimes necessary and we want them to learn to be strong enough to handle the reality of life.
Tomorrow I will have some pictures to post... Evie's first day of school, maybe a couple of shots of Gunnar, and some quilts that I have completed. But for now, goodnight.
