Flu Shot Eve

Here we are, the night before the annual family flu shots. And the children are nestled are snug in their beds with not an inkling of what kind of shitty-ass pissy morning they are going to have tomorrow. Maybe it would behoove me to start an annual tradition of leaving Motrin on their breakfast plates the evening before (pain reliever is always administered beforehand). That way, they would know their fate when they swing open their bedroom doors on a random Saturday every October. "Goddamn it Nora, look who swung by last night- the flu shot fairy."

We never let the kids in on their fate until we pull into the immunization locale. We did it once and realized the children have inherited my anxiety issues. To tell them ahead of time causes excessive worry, and it is cruel. For years we went to the local ma and pa pharmacy down the street. It was sick fun and trauma because even months after the shot, that strip mall elicited the same response from them. I would swing in to mail a letter and I'd hear a scream from the back seat. " Mommy, are we getting flu shots today????!!!!" Depending on what kind of schizoid Mommy Dearest mood I was in dictated my answer. It was either "Yes, wouldn't that be fun to do on this beautiful May day?" OR, "No, I was thinking we'd drive by the Spank Factory and try out the Spank 2010." Last year we really messed them up because we drove to a clinic 20 miles away. I'll admit, the line and amount of third-world citizens freaked me out a bit, too. We rewarded the children with new panties from Kohl's afterwards.


This year's festivities will be held in downtown Scottsdale. I'm not sure what the pay-off will be, but there is a friend's birthday party to attend tomorrow afternoon. Maybe that will take the edge off. Scot and I have Map quested the place, have a departure time and are mentally set. We go to bed tonight feeling a bit sheepish, a bit protective, and a whole lotta Scrooge.