The Needle

My daughter is hilarious. She had a physical checkup today, after which she was not so happy to learn that she had to get some routine "tests" done.

We got to the blood lab and the people in the waiting room were very amused at my little 4 year old daughter's reaction. I told her that she would have to pee in the little bottle and she laughed hysterically. "why would we do something like that?" I explained that it was so we could test the urine. After the washroom experience, when we got back to the waiting room, she asked:

"can we always pee in bottles from now on?"
"no"
"why not?"
"because- we just don't - that's what toilets are for"
"but why do we get to today?"
"because the doctor asked us to"
"but you're the mommy- aren't your rules more important?"
"ok- no more talking. Mommy's tired".

I don't know- how do you explain bloodwork? I tried telling her we needed to make sure it was ok- that there was nothing bad in her urine, and she said "but isn't it dirty anyways? I thought it was all bad". Man- Some days I get so tired. Never argue with a four year old. They are just too smart for their own good.

So then we got to the actual bloodwork. Naturally, she started screaming before she even got the needle, and she's been crying ever since. She's upset that I held her down for the bloodwork. I think she's feeling betrayed. When I finally explained that the bloodwork was to make sure that she has enough vitamins in her body, and that if she doesn't, I'll let her double dose on the Flintstone Vitamins, she seemed ok. Then this evening she started up again.

I just dealt with 20 minutes of crying. When she finally calmed down, I asked what the big deal was. I mean, the needle was eons ago. Why the crying spells?

"mommy- you let them hurt me"
"honey- I had to do that- I needed to make sure you're all healthy"
"you helped them break me"
"break you?"
"what do we do with ripped shirts? We throw them out. Now my body has a hole in it. I'm broken. I have a hole in my body, and you helped them do it. I'm broken and have a hole in my body and it will never go away. WAAAAAAH"

OH Good GOD. I need tylenol. Some days this is just too much. And I signed up for single parenting? What the heck was I smoking when I made that decision?