Sugar Bugs

Sir Toots has stomach problems. He has been complaining about a vague ache for a while but there hasn't been any rhyme or reason to the pain so we've dealt with it and just tried to convince him to spend a bit more time on the potty.

Well, enough of the complaining and I finally convinced the great pediatrician to send us for some testing. Blood work and an xray are simple enough to do and will show if there's anything going on. Or if it's just Sir Toots trying to get out of school and chores.

So we head out on Friday for the blood work. At the lab he's in tears in the bathroom desperately trying to convince me that his pain isn't that bad and really, what's up with the needles? Are you kidding me, Mama? Real needles. I'm pulling every trick in the book out of my back pocket trying to convince him that it will be okay and we'll go to McDonald's when it's all over. There's a knock on the door and the kind lady who will be taking his blood walks in to talk to Sir Toots in a voice that I have already tried. Good luck, lady.

Dammit if she doesn't tell him that she's looking for Sugar Bugs and once she finds them she needs to take a few out so that we can do what the doctor wants. She totally found a way to make it sorta fun and keep us from being the bad guys at the same time. I get into the chair so he can sit in my lap and he crawls up. She gets out the dreaded needle and starts to clean off his arm and he squirms a bit. Noticing this, the nice lady tells him to focus on his Sugar Bugs and going to McDonald's. He tenses up and says okay. I prepare for the worst and take a deep breath.

She inserts her needle and he looks at me with tears in his eyes. And then starts to smile. "oh, that didn't hurt. Mama, I need a burger with cheese and two pickles."



By the way, we got the xray results back and there's nothing there but a little poop. Hopefully the blood work will be clean as well. I should know tomorrow.