Oh! How could I have forgotten to tell you guys this story I’m about to tell you?
Remember a couple weeks ago how Nathan got sick and I took him to the doctor? Well. Have you ever tried taking a strong-willed, determined, and very stubborn child to the doctor? If you have a child like mine, then I’m sure you can relate to I am about to tell you.
It was a challenge, to say the least.
First came weighing him on the scale. Only on this particular scale, the child has to sit still in order for it to lock onto a weight. Yeah. That didn’t go so well because Nathan did NOT want to sit on this scale. As in, he would rather have each of his toenails slowly ripped off, one by one, than to have to sit still on this scale. The poor guy screamed and cried and kept lunging for me, quivering little arms outstretched, mouth agape, tears rushing down his flushed cheeks like little rivers. The way he was acting, you would think we were torturing him. In fact, more than one passerby asked the nurse and I if everything was ok. And the part that broke my heart? Nathan saying, “All done! All done! Bye bye! Bye bye!” He wanted it to be all done so we could go bye bye.
And then when the doctor came into the room, all Hell broke loose. Nathan fought the stethoscope and apparently thought peering into his ears and nose meant the world was about to end, because Nathan fought tooth and nail. I tried to explain to him that the doctor needed to find the bad germs that were making him sick, but to no avail. When Nathan doesn’t want something, he tries with all his strength and might to keep it from happening.
And then? When it was all said and done, I was getting Nathan dressed. He was still sad from his ordeal, so I leaned down and kissed him.
“I love you, Nathan,” I said.
“Yaaaaay.” It was the flattest, most despondent “yay” I had ever heard in my life. It made me feel horrible because Nathan’s experience was so upsetting to him that he couldn’t give me his normally joyful response and energetic hand clapping. Hopefully he won’t be sick again any time soon… I’m not looking forward to going through that again!
