Luke the Cute

Well, I’m sure I’ve said this before: Luke is a delightful little person. As I described a few weeks back, Luke got a cut on his chin from our rusty, old trampoline. Well, he had not yet received the tetanus vaccine, so he needed one today. Yesterday I told him he had a doctor’s appointment because of the stitches. I deliberately avoided the word “shot”. Like his mother, Luke can be a pretty anxious kid. So too much prep time can turn into too much worry time, all of which is miserable and unnecessary in my opinion.

On the way to his “appointment” today, he was rather curious, so he started asking questions. I think he sensed my attempts at evading the word shot and he kept digging for information. I finally told him he needed an immunization and that satisfied his curiosity. When we arrived, I waited until the nurse was present with the vaccine before finally fessing up to the purpose of our “appointment”. He, of course, resisted the idea, but ultimately he conceded. (Perhaps this was because it was happening regardless of his consent or maybe it was all just over so quickly he didn’t have much of an opportunity to protest. I choose to believe it’s because my off-spring is a remarkably brave, cooperative young man.)

After the shot he was offered a sticker, to which he promptly and loudly declined. I guess he just didn’t want to remember the experience. We went to Burger King for a post-traumatic treat. He chose burger shots with apple slices. (Another “proud mommy” moment… *sniff*sniff*). On the way into the restaurant, I was talking with Rick on my cell phone, recounting Luke’s triumphant ordeal with the “tetanus immunization appointment”. When I said to Rick, “and then I got the shot”, Luke stuck his finger out and corrected me, “NO! I got the shot!” Priceless!