Badge of Honor

Flu shots today!!! After weighing the pros and cons, I decided to get my kids vaccinated against the H1N1 virus. Clay county was holding a clinic today at a huge local church from 10am to 7pm, so I packed some snacks, books, and diapers and headed into the unknown. I had no idea how long the wait would be or how many shots they had available, but off we went.

As I rolled our monster double stroller into the church foyer at about 10:15am, I was handed two little tags with the numbers 653 and 654 written on them. Hmm.....well, that's not encouraging. I looked up to see a river of chairs that flowed as far as I could see down the foyer and around the corner. This is NOT a small church, so we're not talking about a small foyer here. I pushed the stroller down the aisle, looking for a seat.......still pushing.......still pushing......around the corner.....still pushing.......THERE! A seat with enough room for the stroller!! Hooray!! At this point, I am thankful for small victories!! I later found out that people had begun lining up outside the church at 4:30am!!!! Crazy......if I'm going to wait for several hours I'm going to do it indoors.

Alright, now we are going to fast-forward THREE HOURS to the moment right before the shots. I will say that the three hours really did fly by and my kids were SO GOOD. No fussing, no whining. If I must wait in line for three hours with two kids, I'm glad I got stuck with these two!!! Also, the church provided cookies and Veggie Tales movies!! Woohoo!!

So, back to the shot.....Flora was a little bit nervous, but the nurse was really nice and comforting. However, nice and comforting flew out the window once she poked Flora with the needle.....

Flora cried!!
Flora coughed!!
Flora gagged!!
Flora vomited her chocolate chip cookie all over Mommy's shirt!!
Ugh!!

The nurse was quick to hand me a wad of Kleenex, but this job was too big for Kleenex alone. Luckily, we had planned it so Chris arrived just before our number was called so that I wouldn't have to comfort two kids at the same time and good thing!! Flora and I sped to the bathroom to wipe ourselves clean while Scout got his shot. We returned just as the nurse was finishing up with Scout. She looked at my shirt, laughed, and said, "Looks like you got the badge of honor!"

My kids are not vomiters, so this was my first time wearing this particular "badge of honor." I tried to enjoy it, but, well, it was gross. Next time we go for shots, I think we'll pass on the cookies.