the brave boy

I have felt it coming for about a year now... and have tucked the information away somewhere in my mind. But the time had come... and I couldn't put it off any longer. It was time for the seventh grade tetanus shot. I didn't tell him until the day before. I didn't want to spring it on him, but I didn't want him to have too much time to think about it either. His response was to gulp a big breath of air, then puff it out, all at once... and followed it with okay.

It's been quite a while since he has had a shot... it used to occur quite often. Every time he got an ear infection, which was very frequent up until about five years ago. My son has never been good at taking medicine... and would choose a shot over consuming any small quantity of an ooey-gooey, thick and chalky medicine. And it was easier for me, so we went with it. But he is twelve now... and has conquered some types of medicine. And the shot has been a thing of the past. But he is brave.

Sitting in the doctor's office, he knew it was coming... but he appeared calm and I believed that it would go smoothly. Because that is what I do... unless my daughter is along- and that is another story in which denial will crush you to the floor, or at the very least, get you kicked in the knees. But we were doing okay... until the doctor said that the nurse would be in to give him his shots. Shots? I thought there was just one. But no... there was the tetanus, and a couple others that I ended up agreeing to, but cannot remember now what they were. The look on Cam's face changed... no longer serene, but still willing.

I offered to let him squeeze my hands, and he held on... but he never squeezed. I thought, Oh, he didn't even feel it! But when I looked down at his face I could see that he was feeling them... and not enjoying the experience... at all! The third shot almost did him in, as I could see he was beginning to edge away from the nurse, but he managed to hang in there. Done. And I was so proud of him. I felt like a bad Mom, promising only one shot, and then ending up with three... but my Cam is a good guy, and he didn't hold it against me.

I promised him a milk shake on the way home. Any size he wanted. We waited for quite a long time in the McDonald's drive thru, only to find a rough sign taped to the menu board: No Milk Shakes or Sundaes until further notice. Seriously? I could have predicted this... but was not of the mind to follow my own instincts. So off we went to Publix, on a mission to buy our ingredients and make our very own. But the temptation got the best of him while we were waiting in line... and since the deli does provide spoons...

He only tasted the ice cream on the way home... saving it for lounging on the couch and his TV. He was pretty cute sitting there... enjoying his Phish Food and scooting along his shiny new Hot Wheels car that I could not refuse him. I'm just glad we survived...