This evening we had one of those.
We'd had a crazy busy day. I had a doctor's appointment, and Jason had a meeting, so we called on our great friend, Dermyer to pick Abby up from school. Dermyer so generously brought Abby along while she dropped her daughter off at dance class, and went the extra mile by taking her to a park to play while they waited.
While they were doing that, I was finishing up at the doctor, and then running to the store and the pizza place. See, what Abby didn't know was that once she got home we'd have a quick dinner and then it was off for her flu shot. I thought it would be smart to load up on a nice treat for her. I knew that the shot would not go well, and so I wanted to be prepared.
Abby had a blast with Dermyer, and was tickled to hear that she had some pizza waiting for her. After dinner I told her that we had to run out for an "errand" and then we'd pick her up some ice cream. I still didn't want to tell her where we were going. Don't get me wrong, she loves her doctor - I mean she really loves him (there have been times when she's asked to go to "Dr. Tim's house, to visit."), but I figured after a long day the last place she'd want to be would be at the doctor's office.
What do I know?
We got in the car and soon enough arrived at the office. Abby was thrilled. It was then that she told me she needed to see Dr. Tim, after all, she had a sore hand (Huh? News to me!) Since it was after hours, I had little hope we'd actually see Dr. Tim, but as luck would have it he was there, finishing up his day. He was kind enough to come out to say a quick hello. After Abby ran to his arms for a big hug here's how the conversation went:
Dr. Tim: Hi Abby. How are you?
Abby: Hi Dr. Tim! I'm good.
Dr. Tim: Are you getting ready for Halloween?
Abby: Um...yeah.
Dr. Tim: What are you going to be?
Abby: An opera singer!
Dr. Tim: [terribly impressed] Oh...wow! Do you share some of your candy with Mom and Dad?
Abby: Yeah...look at my hand.
Dr. Tim: [examining her perfectly fine hand] Hmmm....does it hurt?
Abby: Yes
Dr. Tim: Is it feeling better?
Abby: Yes.
At this point I thought I would give the poor guy a break so I suggested that we head to the chalkboard while we waited to be called back. Abby's response? "Okay Mom. Bye Dr. Tim, see you in five minutes!"
Before I knew it we were called back. This was the moment I was dreading. Would we have to hold her down? Would there be lots and lots of screaming? Would this bring back the old "doctor fears"?
This was when I began to be amazed. Without any prompting Abby climbed up on the table. The nurse very kindly told her that she was there for her flu shot. "Oh, a shot, okay,"Abby replied.
Huh? That was it? I figured that she didn't understand what was happening, that the tears would come soon enough.
Nope. Wrong again.
Abby was a champ. She didn't cry a bit. She got her shot, turned to me, smiled, and declared, "I did it! I got a shot! Abby's all better now! Now, ice cream Mama." Yep, that was it. She then strutted out of the office like she was a pint-sized celebrity, waving to the office staff and Dr. Tim, telling them she was all better because she'd gotten a shot.
I was blown away. I couldn't believe how well she'd done. We got back in the car and headed right to McDonald's for a yummy ice cream treat - she'd earned it.
As an end note, while we were waiting in the drive through line she started to cry. I wondered if her arm was hurting her after all. I turned around and asked her what was wrong. She pointed to the car in front of us (the car that had pulled ahead) and said, "It's leaving Abby. The car is leaving Abby behind."
I couldn't control myself, I burst out laughing. I tried to hid it, but I found it so funny that getting a shot was nothing to her, but the huge white SUV in line in front of us was pulling away from our car was enough to break her little heart.
I've decided that I may never understand her, but I think she is super-great just the same.
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