Wednesday 26 November 2008

Puk-ka! Puk-ka! Aw Faw Down!

This morning I had to take both boys to our Doctor’s office. Quinn, to have a persistent rash checked again, and Jake, for the remainder of his flu shot.

When toddlers are younger than 35 months, the flu shot is administered over two doses. Following Jake’s first dose at a flu shot clinic four weeks ago, a mild rash appeared on his left cheek. Not knowing if this was a direct reaction to the shot or not, we decided to take precaution and have our family doctor administer the remainder. She decided to give him half of the shot, wait an hour, then the rest. And yes—we had to remain in her waiting room the entire time to monitor him.

I have been dreading today for weeks. Waiting rooms aren’t exactly the most welcoming place for a playful, inquisitive 2.5 year old who likes to sing and dance. How was I going to keep him calm, quiet and tolerable? I knew Quinn would help, but to what extent? He likes to bury his nose in books lately {which is so fabulous!}. Perhaps he could read to Jake. That novelty lasted about 10 minutes—for both of them. Jake found several wire and bead structures with which to amuse himself for another 20 minutes. That left 30 more minutes until his last shot.

Other patients came trickling in and out of the office—many with children, and many older patients who seemed to simply want to catch up with the newspaper and magazines.

Much to my surprise, the patients with other children were less interested in my boys. Jake wanted to see every baby, but he was received with caution by the attending parent. Of course, I can understand their inner questions of “Why is he in here? Is he sick? Do I really want him near my baby?” I quickly averted that stress by mentioning that he was here for his flu shot, and that we had to wait for observation. This only calmed their fears, but did not encourage them to interact with Jake any more than before. No problem.

The older patients—and by older, I mean 50+ {not that I think that is old, I am merely comparing them to the younger new parents}—were the ones I expected to be more reserved, and want the noisy little kids to play on the other side of the room.

To my delight, they were thrilled to watch Jake’s antics and listen to him sing. One gentleman laughed out loud at Jake’s rendition of Ring Around the Rosie—“Wing wown wozie, pukka pukka pozie. Puk-ka! Puk-ka! Aw faw down!”. The man loved it so much, he sang along with him, and applauded as Jake insisted Quinn and I participate in the actions right there in the middle of the waiting room. Other older patients joined in with their cheers and laughter, and before you know it, there was a party going on!

Everybody’s patience and interest in the boys made for a delightful 60-minute wait, and reminded me that no matter where you are, and no matter who you are with, there is always room for laughter.

Oh—for the record, Jake had no reaction whatsoever to the remainder of his flu shot. {…sigh…}

3 comments:

  1. I can't blame the new parents really, especially with new little babies. The adults, well, they've been around. They've probably got grandkids...

    Glad the kidlets are ok.

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  2. I'm with Nat - I understand how new parents feel - although I'm not personally in that space any longer.

    Cute story! I'm glad you made it through the "wait" and that Jake wasn't experiencing a reaction.

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  3. Oh! Don't get me wrong! I completely understand the other parents' points of view. I was just surprised at how antisocial they were, not even willing to crack a smile at Jake's antics. The opposite reaction to what I would have expected, that's all.

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