Every year I usually go and take my boys to get flu shots. I didn't do this growing up (not sure there was such a thing) but the boys have all dealt with some variation of asthma and wheezing so the doctor thought it would be a good idea. This year with all the hype about the flu, vaccinations were used up before I could even get them in for an appointment. Last week we were in the doctor for a well check up, and he mentioned that they ended up getting in another shipment. We scheduled an appointment for last night.
I wasn't super excited to go alone with four kids at 7pm but I was glad to have the vaccination at all by this point. My kids have never had any kind of reaction and usually do a pretty good job of getting the shot with out too much drama.
The boys seemed fine when we got to the doctor's office. A little nervous but nothing major. I decided we would do it in birth order so the older boys could be tough for the younger one. T went first and had a look on his face like he was a little worried. He had me hold his hand but it was over before he could even shed a tear. What happened next is what surprised me. While T was getting his shot, H started to cry and have some kind of a panic attack. He started to hide under the table, while crying and yelling that he didn't want to do it. This is the kid who hardly cried at all getting his horrible 5 year old shots.
I was in the middle of trying to figure out what I was going to do with him, when C my 3 year old said "I'll go next!" and hopped up on the table. He then got his shot, didn't cry, and hopped back down like nothing had happened. The whole time C was getting his shot, H was hiding and still crying. The poor guy was trembling he was so scared. I actually had to hold the baby and him while holding his arms down so she could give him the shot. He cried the whole way home and kept saying he couldn't do anything because his arm hurt so much.
Honestly the whole ordeal was somewhat unexpected on my part because of how well H had done at his 5 year old shots. I think he was just in an anxious mood more then anything. He hasn't even mentioned it today.
I thought about it a lot today and realized something. I think maybe there is more of a pattern of this behavior then I realized. T will try most anything but you know he has thought a lot about it first and planned it out in his mind. H takes a little longer to come around to things that scare him (which isn't all bad in my mind) and may or may not do it depending on the mood he is in. If you force him to do it...it can get really ugly. Then there is C. He is pretty fearless. He should probably be a little more afraid of some things.
Here is another example of this. We were at Busch Garden's this past summer. There is a water ride there. T wanted to go and went with me while K stayed back with the younger ones. There was no line so when we returned I said they should all go...it isn't scary at all. C jumped on it. H refused and stayed behind with me and the baby. While they were gone, the wheels in H's head began to turn. He asked questions about the ride. Detailed questions about where the turns and hills were until he felt like he could maybe handle it. H finally decided he wanted to go too so when the rest of them returned, (C being so proud of himself!) K took the two older boys and went down the water ride again. I was nervous for a minute thinking, "what if H gets scared?", what if he ends up panicking in the middle of the ride?" It could be very very bad. He can get pretty worked up, pretty fast. When I saw them come off the ride though, I saw his face. It was pure joy! He loved the ride and he loved that he over came his fear. I had tears in my eyes as he ran towards me and jumped in my arms yelling "I did it Mom!"
Unfortunately I couldn't talk him into the joys of the shots. I did mention how many people were seriously hurt or even died without the shots they have today....didn't help though.
oh well...it works on water rides!
me...I'm extremely THANKFUL for these guys!
