The morning went well. The twins were super excited because it was Hallowe'en. To add to their excitement, we packed them up and headed to the mall (where the flu shot was being administered). Once there, we lined up. Police men came around handing out bags of candy. Ladies dressed up as witches were handing out treats as well. The twins were anxious to leave the line up and discover what was going on behind the boarded up store front that we were waiting to enter.
We walked beyond the boards and discovered a doctor's waiting room! Bethie was the first to become concerned. She announced that she was not sick and, therefore, we should leave. I told her that this waiting room wasn't for sick people. That calmed her down.
While we were waiting to go into the "shot room", Katie and Bethie were talking to one another. They commented on the grown ups in costumes. One was even dressed up as a nurse! It became clear to Dan and I that they were expecting a "Hallowe'en Surprise" on the other side of the door. Ummm....they were going to be surprised alright. Dan and I debated whether or not this was the right time to tell them what was going on. Before we could come to an agreement, we were called in.
Once in the "shot room", the nurse said "Who wants to go first?". Katie and Bethie practically killed each other vying for first place. Katie won. Katie sat on my lap, while Dan held Sarah, and Bethie watched. At the precise moment that the needle came into view, Dan said "Katie! Look at me!". Katie looked at Dan, the needle went in Katie's arm (without Katie even realising it), and Bethie ran for the hills!
Dan chased after Bethie and picked her up. She began shouting "I DON'T WANT A SHOT!". Katie tried to calm her down. It was at this point that Bethie inadvertently kicked Katie in the head. Both Katie's head and heart were wounded by this blow. Sarah's shot was quickly administered, and she threw a fit. We had three screaming children, and the loudest one hadn't even had her shot yet!
I took Bethie from Dan and tried to calm her down. She was yelling and crying and punching. I held her in a tight hug, but this wasn't enough to hold her still. Reinforcements were called in. Bethie was pinned down. When the nurse cleaned her arm with the alcohol wipe, she went from horribly upset to absolutely livid! The needle went in, and I let out my breathe. I, naively, assumed that the worse was over.
Wrong, again! We went into the waiting room and Bethie unleashed. She screamed, "THIS IS AN EVIL PLACE! I AM NEVER COMING BACK HERE AGAIN! WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP THEM WHEN THEY WANTED TO GIVE ME A SHOT?! THAT DOCTOR IS WICKED!". The rant went on and on and on. She had attracted the attention of the entire waiting room, which really ticked me off because I wanted to sneak out before the 15 minute post-shot wait time was up (I have pneumonia, cut me some slack!). A nurse came over trying to help calm Bethie down. She was absolutely amazed to see that Bethie's rage would not subside. Bethie told her off, too!
After about 10 minutes, Dan and I got up and walked out. I was giving everyone my super angry look, and Bethie was raging against the world. No one dared to stop us. We exited the waiting room, and entered the mall...exactly where the line up was formed, full of children whose parents also "forgot" to warn them that there was a shot coming their way. Bethie cleared this little fact up for all those in doubt.
As Dan and I loaded the children in the car, Katie begged and pleaded with us to stop talking about the "bad thing" that had just happened. She would prefer that we all forget about the shot and never mention it again (how very Dan of her!). Bethie screamed "MUMMY! YOU NEED TO COME BACK HERE AFTER WE ARE IN BED AND SHINE A LIGHT IN THAT DOCTOR'S EYE! YOU TELL HER THAT SHE IS WICKED AND WE ARE NEVER COMING BACK!". I had two options at that point. I could:
- go along with the hysterical child in the hopes that she would eventually calm down, or
- tell her that she only got a 1/2 dose and we need to come back in 3 weeks!
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