The Tides of Trouble

Most of us, swimming against the tides of trouble the world knows nothing about, need only a bit of praise or encouragement - and we will make the goal. ~Jerome Fleishman

Today I was nominated for a "When Life Gives You Lemons" award by my friend Lindsay. I don't know what I did to deserve it, but Lindsay's award totally turned the tides of trouble for me today.

Today was doctor day for Camryn and Aiden. It's that time of year that I usually dread: annual check-up time. It's usually not so bad if no one needs shots, but with four kiddos, it's always someone's turn to be vaccinated.

Today was Camryn's turn. She thought she had until age 14 before she needed shots again, but the AMA (or whoever determines the vaccination schedule for kids) decided that the magical age for all those booster shots is now 11. Guess who just turned 11? Yep. Camryn.

It's Monday; it's raining. That's a bad enough omen right there. Camryn had to be coerced to wake up today, and she was late getting out to the car (I limited myself to two separate blasts on the car horn, but it was hard!) So you know as soon as her tushie hit the van seat she's all in-a-mood, right? It didn't get better when we got to the doctor's office, either. In fact, it was in FULL force. She had the whole bangs over the eye, iPod earphones in the ears, giving-Mom-the-evil-eye routine kicked up several notches.

GUH-REAT. This is going to be a BLAST. CANNOT WAIT. Bring it.

Aiden was fine with the whole appointment. He didn't care for removing all of his clothing in exchange for the flattering paper gown, but he sucked it up and got busy playing his Nintendo DS Club Penguin game. Barely noticed the doctor when she came in. Got through the exam just fine. No big.

Camryn, on the other hand, wanted to keep the earphones in her ears while the doctor was trying to talk to her. I grabbed the cord and plucked the 'phones out of her ears and demanded she give me the iPod. That's the height of rudeness to me, and I wasn't the only one feeling that way. I sensed some irritation in the doctor's voice as well.

And it just went downhill from there. Camryn's feet were terribly stinky, and Lillian kept making rather obnoxious observations to that fact, waving her hand in front of her face and being the typical annoying 4 year-old sister. I could tell Camryn wanted to throttle Lillian. (I kinda' did, too.)

We got through the exam, and after exhorting Camryn to give up soda and start eating more vegetables the doctor said the word Camryn was dreading: VACCINATIONS. Camryn needed two, which was less than the four she had anticipated. Aiden needed one (chicken pox booster) which, when it came out of the doctor's mouth went right over Aiden's head (he was completely absorbed by Club Penguin on the DS). I breathed a sigh of relief. I could break the news to him gently.

HA.

When the doctor left the room, the first thing Camryn blurted out was, "AIDEN! Did you HEAR HER? YOU HAVE TO GET A SHOT, TOO!"

Fiddlesticks and shamrocks. CAMRYN! That wasn't something that Aiden needed to hit him full force in the face. I needed to sneak up on him with that information. Goodgooglymoogly.

And the proverbial stink hit the fan.

Aiden lost it. He doesn't like shots. He barely got through the finger prick.

I could've killed Camryn. Or just seriously wounded her. Pinched her at least.

I restrained myself.

Aiden started crying and saying, "I don't want a shot! I don't want a shot! I don't want a shot!" Poor kid didn't want a haircut last night, either, but he was starting to look like the Shaggy Dog. He got a buzz cut anyway and cried for about 45 minutes afterwards.

And now this.

The nurse finally came in with the needles. She asked, "Who wants to go first?" I told Camryn she needed to since Aiden had gone first with the exams. Camryn flat out refused. I mean, dug her heels in and shook her head and just said, "NO. Aiden has to go!" I wanted to grab her and bend her over my knee, but I was stuck. So I turned to Aiden.

He ran away.

I grabbed him and tried to wrestle him into my lap.

The boy is strong. I mean, REALLY strong.

It took me a good 3-4 minutes to get Aiden pinned down and still so he could get his shot. I've never been more embarrassed. The poor nurse just stood there, aghast. I'm sure it's a story she'll repeat many times in the course of her career.

Camryn took her two shots with no complaints. Then she asked for her iPod back.

"ABSOLUTELY FREAKIN' NOT, " I said, gritting my teeth.

Needless to say, I did not have a good morning....

...until I sat down at the computer and found Lindsay's e-mail nominating me for the "Lemons to Lemonade" award. In her nomination she said:

"Beth - from The Right Regrets. If you don't know her, I am not even sure how to describe her. I can only tell you that I have had the pleasure of meeting her IRL and she is one of the most positive and funny people I have ever known."

So thanks, Lindsay. Thank you for bringing a spot of sunshine to my day. I'm not always so positive, but thanks to good friends like you, I can find the positive amidst the negative.

And now I'm supposed to:

Post the logo on my blog. Check.



Nominate blogs that show great attitude or gratitude.

I nominated my friend Cyndi, who just always seems to find the sunshine when there's nothing but rain and my friend Brandi, who has more difficulty thrown her way than anyone really should bear, but she keeps her chin up even when I'm sure she wants to throw in the towel (and tomorrow is her birthday!).

Link to the nominees within my blog post. Check.

Notify the recipients of the award by commenting on their blog. Will do.

Share the love and link back to the person from whom you received your award. That's Lindsay, and I linked to her above, so I think I'm done!

Happy Monday, everyone!