vaccination room of TERROR!

We recently took (read: forced) the kids to get their H1N1 vaccine. I know this is a hot topic of conversation, with many parents taking a firm stance in not getting this vaccine for their little ones. However, having recently had my MONTH long bout with swine flu followed by pneumonia, and knowing just how sick it made me, I really can't imagine any of my sweet babies suffering in this way.

So, the whole family trucked down to the Health Department right after school to stand in line and get our shots. Initially, the process ran smoothly. We entered the building, filled out paperwork, received a number, and waited patiently until we were called. But that's where the sanity and logical reasoning ended.

Once our number was called, we were shuttled like herds of cattle to various rooms within the building. In the second room, we met as a family in a private room with one of the nurses. She slowly and methodically explained the vaccine itself and asked various questions about our individual allergies and medical histories. We were then shuttled into a third room to wait again before being called in to what we now refer to as the Vaccination Room of TERROR (V.R.T.). As our children peered into the V.R.T. and witnessed the children inside receiving their vaccines, a look of pure shock and horror washed over their otherwise brave faces. It is important to note here that my boys take great pride in possessing bravery (and manliness!) while in doctor's offices, particularly while receiving their immunizations. For this reason, I guess I didn't register the potential impact this observation might have on them. A minute later, we entered the V.R.T. where we continued to observe a multitude of screaming, panic-stricken, traumatized small children receiving their shots. I did my best to assure the boys that these children weren't brave like them...they were scared and the shot wouldn't hurt any more than a mosquito bite.

Now it's our turn....Keegan cried as soon as it was over - still too young to understand what was going on. Logan fought back tears and seemed uneasy, but acted courageously.

Then it was Gavin's turn........
He was having NONE of it! Gavin completely freaked out and was in rare form. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen him that uncontrollable. His faced turned beet red and each time he screamed, you could see a vein sticking out of his neck. Behind me, a mom stood in the doorway with her child and I heard her comforting him by saying, "He's just not as brave as you. Don't worry. It won't hurt a bit". It took the help of three adults (one was Daddy), but Gavin was vaccinated a minute later.

When we finally escaped to the car, Gavin said, "I was just acting. That was just for pretend", and we just went along with it.

Now what I want to know is who's the genius that had the bright idea of putting these poor children in the individual rooms for consultation and the mass room for receiving the vaccination!?!?!?!??