« Ladies | Main | I totally could have taken him! »
May 13, 2009
I felt a tiny fissure in my rock hard heart
Katie had her 4 month well check today, and let's just say it didn't go so well.
I'm not normally a very sympathetic parent. I mean, I love my kids to death, but if they do something for the 47th time after I've told them they're going to get hurt, and then they get hurt, I give them a quick hug and an "I told you so." I mean, really, how much sympathy do I have to have after giving regular warnings? If something unexpected and unavoidable happens, I'm much more likely to feel sad and pity them and all that, but I'm still not really all that squishy. I mean, there's a certain amount of life that involves pain and sucking it up and moving on, and the older they get, the more I'm inclined to let them learn that lesson.
The same goes for pain for your own good. I know a lot of people who are all "I can't stand to watch my kid gets shots," but I'm not one of them. Do I like pinning my kids down while they get stabbed with tiny needles and screech in pain and indignation? Hell no! But neither do I consider for one second letting them skip out on two minutes of scary ouchies for something I consider a Greater Good.
For the most part, my kids take it well. As babies, they didn't know to anticipate the pain, and they always seemed way more pissed at being held down than in real pain. I think Jamie was 3 when she first got a shot and knew what was coming. We talked it over, and then she sat quietly and took it in the arm. She still talks about how brave she was and how it was no big deal.
I thought I was home free. After all, Jamie has always been my drama queen.
Katie had her 4 year well check today, and I wasn't even sure she was going to need a shot. I thought maybe one. I was off by three! Poor kid! We had talked about it some beforehand, and she occasionally got sad and a little fragile, but I was hoping for the best. Unfortunately, things went downhill fast between the doctor leaving and the nurses coming in with what must have been GIANT ELEPHANT NEEDLES in Katie's mind. I really wish they hadn't given her so much time to anticipate.
I sat her on my lap and hugged her the whole time, but this was by far, in 6 years and three kids, the worst shots experience of my life. She was sobbing and pathetically calling for me, Owen was crying in sympathy next to us, and it started way before and ended way after the actual shots. Twenty minutes later she would think about it and tear up again.
My poor baby girl, who learned to ride a bike without a single tear, is just too sensitive for her own good sometimes.
Posted by me at May 13, 2009 8:34 PM