{liar liar}

It was time for 'well-child' check ups and in the interest of saving some time in the waiting room I made the brilliant decision to schedule them at the same time... Thatcher's 15 month and Alyse's 3 year... never again!
Alyse is not a fan of the doctor's office... now don't get me wrong we LOVE our pediatrician he is AMAZING and Alyse thinks he is GREAT she just would rather talk and play with him and not be touched or looked at... knowing this I attempted to prepare her...
The day of the appointment I reminded her what was going to happen, "first they are going to want to see how BIG you are so you get to stand on the big scale and put your feet on the Dora stickers while they weigh you and see how tall you have grown... then they will weigh and measure Thatcher on the baby scale and then the doctor will come in to talk to you and look at you... remember how to open your mouth big so he can see inside? Can you show me?" you get the idea....
We are in the car driving to the appointment and she says, "Mommy, you said Thatcher was going to get some shots and that he might be sad am I going to get shots?" Knowing she was all caught up on immunizations I said "Nope just Thatch." oops!
We arrive... Aly meets a new friend in the waiting room they play and the time passes quickly. We go back and make it through the weighing and measuring both kids are happy and doing great! Then we go back to the room and the nurse says she needs to get a blood sample from Alyse to check her iron etc. (oops forgot about that) Let's just say it did not go well... Aly is screaming, looking at me as though I have completely betrayed her in her eyes that finger prick was a SHOT! The nurse leaves and I am kissing her poor bandaged finger and trying to calm her down. The crying stops just as the doctor enters... as soon as he tries to listen to her heart the screaming begins again and this time Thatcher decides to join in if she screams when the doctor touches her with a stethoscope it must hurt and he must scream as well apparently. It was a challenge listening to the doctor as both of my children were screaming and throwing fits. (special thank you to the assistant who entertained my Thatcher and attempted to calm him so Dr. Nilsson could talk to me about his growth concerns-- Let's just say my little man isn't growing -at least not at a rate they would like to see- he is below the 5th percentile for weight he didn't grow at ALL between his 9 month and 12 month check ups and has only barely gotten any taller in the past 3 months, if he doesn't make some gains by his 18 month check up we will take some x-rays and test his growth hormome etc. to make sure all is well). As the doctor is leaving he says "Oh what about flu shots today? Now is the time to get them."
Right... flu shots... didn't think about that... I work at a public school... Russ works in the travel industry... if the flu is out there, we'll bring it home... yep, better get flu shots...
So the doctor leaves and I decide not to mention to Aly the flu shot, I will just surprise her with it. The nurse comes in to give Aly her shot first... we lay her down and I try to distract her singing songs etc. as the shot goes in... SCREAMS just imagine screams, tears, a look of betrayal...

(here is the conversation following the shot.... while Alyse is still crying mind you)

Nurse: You did such a good job! Do you want to pick a prize from the prize box when you leave?
Alyse: No you can keep it! Mom, I am done with this place let's leave!
Me: We have to wait so Thatcher can get his shots just a few more minutes.
Alyse: Mom, he doesn't want them... let's go!

Well we did wait and when the nurse came in to give Thatcher his shots Alyse started crying all over again (this time in empathy I am certain) Thatcher of course began to cry as he got his 3 shots and as I carried my two crying children out of the office I told Alyse that she had been so brave and I would take her to get some ice cream to make her feel better.

We went to Golden Spoon and shared a yummy yogurt, both kids were smiling and I was relieved it was over and could maybe be forgotten. I loaded them back into the car and as we pulled out of the parking lot headed for home Alyse informed me from the back seat:

"Mom I do not feel any better... that ice cream did not work."

I have a feeling that it might be a little difficult to get her to the doctor again anytime soon. Let's hope for good health! And just for my own sanity I am not planning on trying to 'save any waiting room' time in the future, at least not without a little back-up. I think one child crying at a time in the doctor's office is enough!