October 9, 2015
Let’s start this little fairytale at two nights ago.
I was informing my Hubs on what we had in store the next day. Starting off going to our clinic to get the girls’ flu shots, then probably a treat to settle them down, before heading to the store for groceries and heading home.
You have to understand, Marvel, our 4-year old, has superhero hearing. She wasn’t within hearing distance and I was using my low voice while talking with Hubs.
And here she comes, standing at our feet, and asking, “what about a flu shot?”. Of course she caught that above everything else! Well, I’m not going to lie to my daughter. So here it goes…
I tell her, “it’s nothing to worry about, no big deal”.
She puts her head down and doesn’t move. So I ask her to look up at me. Exactly what I expected, she’s fighting back her worry tears.
“No, no baby. It’s just a real quick thing that will help you not get sick.”
Still fighting back tears, she quietly says, “but I don’t want to get shot.”
“You have to sweetheart. And so does Sissy. You don’t want to get sick do you?”
“No.”
“Ok then. It’ll be real quick and I’ll be with you the whole time. And we’ll get you a treat after.”
She was still fighting back tears.
She’s always fought back tears. I think mainly because I’ve told her “you’re fine, that’s nothing worth crying over” when the circumstance is something little. I’m sure all her times at Children’s Hospital has taught her to fight back tears as well. But it still breaks my heart seeing her trying to be so strong in front of even her Daddy and I. So, of course, I bring her in for a hug.
I go on explaining things to her. Reminding her that she watched and me and Daddy get our shots and it was real quick. I knew the longer we talked about it, the longer the tear-fight would go on. So I moved onto the rest of our tomorrow. I told her we were going to go on a girl’s only date and get a treat, whatever her and Sissy wanted. Then they were going to help me get groceries (I usually go all alone) and they could pick out an extra item each. That got her perked up a bit. Out of her mind. So I thought…
We finished our evening and got the girls to bed. The next day I learned she was worrying more than I thought. Hubs told me when he kissed her goodbye on his way out to work in the early morning, she woke up and said she didn’t want a shot, then started crying. He laid down with her until she fell back asleep.
When we all got up and started getting ready, it was like she didn’t remember she was going to the clinic. And our little Tank, our 2-year old, was just excited to be awake and start the day. Not a care in the world. We got in the car and headed out. No questions or anything about the shots. Until our exit came.
“Mama, where we going first?”
“We’ve got some running around to do today.”
“Ok. Where does this road go?”
“We’re just on our way to our first stop.”
Then she remembered.
“But I don’t want to get a shot!”
Trying to avoid the tears and worry for just a bit longer…
“We’re not worrying about that right now, baby. Let’s listen to some ‘Shaka-hooga’.”
That’s what she calls the song ‘Hooked on a Feeling’.
Entertained, until she saw the clinic. Thankfully I pulled her attention to figuring out what they were going to get for a treat. Tank was still carefree and happy to be out and about.
Checking in, they gave me two slips, one for each girl. I let them carry their slips back, which made them happy and feeling all grown up, and they put them in the basket. Then Marvel started in again. She picked her seat right across from the open door where two nurses were getting their shots ready. Just adding fuel to her fire. That’s not fun to deal with. Thankfully I didn’t have to try to calm her down very long. No wait time.
The nurse asked who was going first. No hesitation, Marvel!
Oh… good… grief! That girl does not like to be held down. I had her in my lap, turned sideways, holding her hands down with one hand and pushing her head into my neck with my other hand. That girl likes to see what’s coming. She yelled at me before screaming at the nurse when she got stuck. Oh, did she scream… Screamed! And she was not wanting to take the three, yes three, stickers the nurse was trying to hand her. So I had to pass them along. And there was a box of suckers, on the counter, she got to pick from. She limped the five steps over to the counter, got a sucker, and limped the five steps back. Seriously.
I looked at Tank right after her sister screamed. She had a look on her face that said ‘what in the world is wrong with you sis?!’. Tank wasn’t scared, or happy, or sad, or anything. Just standing there. Once I knew Marvel was fine, I picked up Tank and sat her on my lap. Same routine. She doesn’t like to be blinded either. I hid her face in my neck and she yelled “Mama!” at me before grunting at the nurse for sticking her. Yep, just a grunt. Maybe it was a growl, either would make perfect since with her. But the nurse slapped on a bandaid and that was all Tank could think about was a Bugs Bunny bandaid… Until the nurse gave her stickers and let her pick out a sucker too.
All done!
When we were walking out the door, Marvel asked me “Mama, can I rub out the pain?” Throughout the years, anytime they’ve had to get shots, I rub on it (mainly to distribute whatever was in the shot) and say “you gotta rub out the pain”. Plus, it really does help. Obviously she’s caught onto that. Then she said, all sad and defeated-like, “I gotta shot.” Hearing her, Tank shouts with excitement and a big smile, “I GOTTA SHOT!”
These two make so many emotions run through me on a daily basis. It’s no wonder why I’m so much more emotional after becoming their mother!
I can’t wait until years down the road, when I get to embarrass my girls with their stories, and then laugh about it with them!
Until then, we can look at my girls eating their free frozen yogurt from the clinic.
I strongly encourage you to take your kids for their flu shots, and get yours while you’re at it. With Marvel, if she gets sick, especially flu sick, it’s almost certain she’ll relapse and have to go back to Children’s Hospital. I do everything I can to protect her, but she’s now in preschool and gymnastics and Sunday school.
And now I go into Mothering Mode, or lecturing, or whatever you’d like to call it! Some will agree, some won’t, some minds I may change for the better…
I learned years ago, I don’t have control over everyone getting their flu shots. I pushed for all our family to get shots for two important reasons. First, so they wouldn’t get sick and go through that misery and then not get to see our little family for a long time. Second, they could still carry the virus and feel well if they didn’t get their flu shot. Even after informing them, some family still didn’t get vaccinated. I’ve done my research and 20%-30% can carry the flu virus and have no symptoms. That’s really scary to think that anyone who was in that 20-30 percentile could get my girl sick. But, like I said, I don’t have control over everyone getting their flu shots. But some do. My parents and brother, for example, let me know when they get theirs every year since Marvel’s diagnosis. I love that they tell me, it puts my mind at ease. They probably really tell me because they know I’ll be bugging them soon if they don’t! Ha-ha!
Just protect your family, your kids especially, and make sure your family gets their flu shots! Most insurances cover it anyway. What could it hurt? Besides a little sting (unless you do the mist). And if my girls can get through a little sting, anyone can!
One more thing you may not know about Nephrotic Syndrome, the mist is not allowed, it has to be a shot! And anyone who does the flu mist shouldn’t be around those with NS for a certain time period.
My Mothering Heart will always tell me to protect my girls to the fullest of my ability… To infinity and beyond!
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