Flu Shot Badge

This morning, I made the time to stand in line for my annual flu shot. Of course, my darling Dagny accompanied me.

When it was my turn, she sat in my lap as quietly and as motionless as a turtle. The nurse asked about her age. Stating that she was almost two and a half, the nurse looked worried and questioned my intention to hold her in my lap while having a needle jammed in my shoulder. I assured the nurse, that Dagny would be fine. Let's just get this business completed.

Dagny intently studied every move the nurse made. Dagny did not make a peep as the nurse opened the needle, filled it full of the immunization, and stuck it into my shoulder. By the end, the nurse was shocked at Dagny's impeccable behavior. While I'd like to take the responsibility for her good conduct, it was really all her. She was just interested in the proceedings.

Later, this afternoon, it was Dagny's turn to get her flu shot. The nurse instructed me to hug Dagny and turn her head away from the needle. Having already seen the procedure on me, she couldn't help but still be interested. The process of the injection took at most 5 seconds. My youngest child did not flinch or scowl. You'd have thought she was watching a mesmerizing circus act. Even the pediatric nurse commented on how she's never seen a child react so calmly to a shot. We agreed, she's a tough kid!

She wore her Band-Aid like a badge. For the rest of the day, any human being we encountered, she pointed to the Band-Aid on her shoulder announcing, "I got a foo shot!"