Saturday, April 12, 2008

Earning Stickers


My son's life has suddenly started to revolve around the earning of stickers. Stickers for remembering to go to the bathroom, stickers for good behavior at school, etc. Little did I know that I would be earning a sticker right along with the Bubs yesterday...........

When I told the Bubs that we were going for a check-up with his doctor instead of going to school, he was completely fine with it...excited, in fact. I, on the other hand, was freaking out on the inside. You see, immunizations were also on the morning's to do list. I told him that, but didn't exactly tell him the details. David thinks it's an everyday kinda thing to go see the doctor because they are supposed to make you feel better. I think this outlook of his was fostered by watching his Ammah go to the doctor so often during her battles with two kinds of cancer and how we all talked with him about that. He prefers to know as many facts as he can find out rather than not knowing anything at all.

So we find a parking space -one of my own creation on the grass since the rest of the parking lot was crammed full- and rush in late, as usual. The doctor was clear and concise and gave me not one iota of trouble for the Bubs being a "man-child". The kid has always been taller than most his age and I've gotten the third-degree in the past about how much I was feeding him. *sigh* This was from the same doctor who thought my child needed speech therapy and thought he was developmentally delayed. I'm here to tell you that my 5 year old child is quite articulate and is beginning to read. (insert na-na-boo-boos and stuck out toungues here!) Needless to say, we don't see that individual any more. Our current physician seemed to have some sense, thankfully. I mean, who wants to take their child to a callous, snotty idiot?

Then comes the hard part of our visit...getting the dreaded shots. All four of them. Two in each leg. This was the first time we had to go through immunizations without my Hubby being there. I was fine outwardly but I was an absolute wreck on the inside. So much so, that the nurses had to tell me a couple of times how they needed me to restrain the Bubs. I was so preoccupied that I didn't give a hoot that they thought I was a ditz. They took pity on me, recognizing my plight, and were able to finally get us in postition. Meanwhile, David is laughing and talking about the large stickers that were displayed in the small office, trying to pick out his favorite. You know, generally charming the socks off of the nurses. (He totally gets that from his Dad!) The shots were given in the span of a couple of heartbeats. So much tension over something so quick! The Bubs was a trooper. He yelled out in shock and then shoved his fingers into his eyes to keep from crying. He gingerly got down from the table and stumbled over to get his prize - a sticker. He picked out one for himself and one for me. He told me that I earned a sticker, too. What a sweetie!
Peace, Y'all!
Anna K.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

hey, if it works, great! sounds like he becoming a big boy...they leave us behind teary-eyed.

Joanna said...

Oh owie!! I'm having sympathy pains!

Be glad he didn't milk it for all he's worth. :)

Ann said...

Thank you for yor visit,as for stickers great idea, and boy have I been down the " your child has probs route" my youngest has profound dyslexia and has never done anything at the " right time" she always chose to do it in her time so we have been told of develepmental delays etc etc, she is now 11 and although school is a real pain, sticker charts have played a huge part in Harriets progress, so go for it, from doctor visits to the endless psychology tests stickers saved the day, now she is older the we have moved onto different treats ie homework rewards collected and then used to visit somewhere special or a horse riding lesson etc. but the principle is the same
so be happy to know on the other side of the pond has been an equally stressed Mum, who took the road to sticker city......lol

Anonymous said...

Oh I dread the day that Jonathan realizes the shots are coming. So far he is blissfully ignorant -- until the shot goes in.

I can see David charming the pants off those nurses. He is a charmer indeed!

Anonymous said...

The dreaded shots. It's so pitiful when they are brave! When we went for his five year appt we had to catch up from missing the last year (bad mama!) - so guess what, he got MORE than his fair share. Oh, he was so pitifully brave, saying through his tears with great determination, "it's okay, it's okay, it's okay..." Bless their hearts.

Thimbleanna said...

Awww. Doesn't that just kill you to have to watch them go through that? I remember crying when we had to do it! Sounds like your little guy is a sweetie!