Waiting for the Flu

Today, in celebration of the youngest's birthday (or despite the fact that we wanted to celebrate the youngest's birthday) we headed to the county H1N1 vaccine clinic. We knew it was going to be a long wait, but I don't think I realized how long. I won't complain too loudly (my friend Besty waited for 4 1/2 hours with her twin babies), but we were in line for 3 1/2 hours, not including the twenty minutes it took to get into the parking lot. We were 1 1/2 hours outside the building and 2 hours inside (but we did get in the building right before it started to rain, which was a blessing because I had opted not to bring a coat for me so I didn't have one more thing to carry). We played "Ring around the Rosie" when we were by the lawn as a celebratory, "we made it this far," "happy birthday" type activity. And then did various hand rhymes, stories, and more "Ring around the Rosie" inside. One little preschool boy was so fascinated by what we were doing he had to watch.

When we finally made it to the front of the line and were called for a vaccine, the oldest melted. He started saying, "I don't want a flu shot." He refused to pull his arm out from his shirt, and I really had to hold him down for the shot. When he was done and I released my grip, he crumpled onto the floor sobbing. I had brought lollipops for after the shot, and even that wasn't enough to calm him down. It took a few extra moments to get him a little calmed down. Then it was the youngest's turn. He cried, but remembered to say (or cry) "Thank you" when he was offered a sticker. We left the table and went to some chairs on the other side of the room to try and help the oldest calm down. (The youngest had stopped crying as soon as his lollipop was unwrapped.) Then we headed back to the car, running through the pouring rain. As we drove to pick up my husband, the oldest kept repeating again and again, "I don't want any more flu shots."

All in all, we left the house at 12:03 and got back into the car at 4:00. Longer than I wanted. It had better work!