WARNING: MOM STUFF

Today was a pretty funny kind of day, so I thought it deserved a post with my own interpretation. Today there was no school because it’s voting day, so I decided to bite the bullet and take the kids to the minute-clinic to get flu-shots done. Now, those of you with kids know that this is not something you plan out loud. If you tell your kids in advance that they’re getting shots they tend to spend every hour and sleepless night up to then. This requires you to be more (ahem) covert about your intentions.

So this morning came the announcement,

HEY KIDS! Get in the van! Mom’s gonna go vote, we’re going to run an errand *cough*, and then we’re getting self-serve frozen yogurt!

Which means I kind of feel like this.

So we pile into the van and on the way to the clinic, I drop the bomb. Guess what, guys? You’re going to have to EARN it. Panic ensues, but it’s too late. We’re already down the road. Thank God for child locks.

Now, I do know that the flu vaccine comes in a nasal spray, but I didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up, so I kept mum on it. When I got to the pharmacy I did ask about the nose spray. The lady behind the counter said, “Yes, but we only have ONE.”

I entertain the notion of letting one kid have a nose spray and the other a needle for a split second. It played out pretty much like the ending of The Good Son.

“No, We’ll all take the needle, thanks.”

So a few pinches and a few tears later, we’re out and eating frozen yogurt while showing off our battle scars.

I can’t say the kids feel like I was entirely fair to them, but that’s life. It’s a motto I keep repeating to them, courtesy of one of our favorite movies, Labyrinth. That one moment when Hoggle wails Sarah’s frequent lament, “IT’S NOT FAIR!” And she counters…

Life isn’t fair, and it’s not going to be. But that being said, just because things are unpleasant doesn’t mean that it’s not for a good reason. And like The Doctor says:

Now to repeat this whole thing NEXT YEAR.