I had to take Joshua into the doctor's office for his Kindergarten physical (and to get a shot he was missing). I really missed Robert!!! In the past year or so, I have scheduled appointments to happen at lunch or naptime so that Daddy was home or Robert could "babysit" the sleeping ones. This time, however, the only available appointment was at 10:30am and I took all three of the little ones with me. I have taken all three before, but usually at least one of them was actually sick and so I really only had to watch 2. Also, the nurses are really good at getting us out of the waiting room as fast as possible so that I don't have as much surface area to watch. This time, however, I had three health and very exuberant children who were very happy to be there. They were very good, but we were in the waiting room for nearly an hour and a half. By the end of that time, they were in a pretend world (started by Joshua) where they were deep-sea divers. 
Every time a nurse opened the door, Joshua would shriek for her to watch out for the sharks. Yes it was very cute, but I had to dissuade them from using various objects in the room (a folded wheelchair, television, a fellow patient with a cast) as object to be driven or walked upon. Ben also has discovered numbers and colors and he was pointing out every number he could see. He could recognize 1 through 11 on the clock. The 12 was 1 and 2, though.
When we got to the procedure room, it was noon and the kids were getting hungry and I was glad that the nurse came right in to get started. As it turned out, Josh needed 3 shots and a TB test (I don't remember having to get Robert a TB test before Kindergarten, but that was a long time ago). I should mention that Joshua was nervous about having to see the doctor. I told him that he needed to get a shot and he looked at me with big eyes and asked, "the doctor has a gun?" When I told him no, he wanted to know how the doctor was supposed to shoot him without a gun. He still wasn't entirely clear on the concept when the nurse came in with the tray. The last time he had shots, he screamed before, during, and for a long time after ... so I was ready. However, he just looked down and watched. He didn't even flinch! He got the TB on his forearm, and a shot in each bicep. Then, as we were leaving, (and almost back to the waiting room) the nurse discovered that Josh also needed a finger stick. The kids were less than amused at being herded back to the little room, but again Josh took the stick without a jump. When she was done, he just looked at me and said "Mom, I don't have to do this again, right?" Unfortunately, the office was out of one of the boosters and we will have to go in when the vaccine comes in, but I think Josh will do well! As good as the kids were, I was flat exhausted by the time we got home. The kids and I slept until Robert got home from school. Whew!
Every time a nurse opened the door, Joshua would shriek for her to watch out for the sharks. Yes it was very cute, but I had to dissuade them from using various objects in the room (a folded wheelchair, television, a fellow patient with a cast) as object to be driven or walked upon. Ben also has discovered numbers and colors and he was pointing out every number he could see. He could recognize 1 through 11 on the clock. The 12 was 1 and 2, though.When we got to the procedure room, it was noon and the kids were getting hungry and I was glad that the nurse came right in to get started. As it turned out, Josh needed 3 shots and a TB test (I don't remember having to get Robert a TB test before Kindergarten, but that was a long time ago). I should mention that Joshua was nervous about having to see the doctor. I told him that he needed to get a shot and he looked at me with big eyes and asked, "the doctor has a gun?" When I told him no, he wanted to know how the doctor was supposed to shoot him without a gun. He still wasn't entirely clear on the concept when the nurse came in with the tray. The last time he had shots, he screamed before, during, and for a long time after ... so I was ready. However, he just looked down and watched. He didn't even flinch! He got the TB on his forearm, and a shot in each bicep. Then, as we were leaving, (and almost back to the waiting room) the nurse discovered that Josh also needed a finger stick. The kids were less than amused at being herded back to the little room, but again Josh took the stick without a jump. When she was done, he just looked at me and said "Mom, I don't have to do this again, right?" Unfortunately, the office was out of one of the boosters and we will have to go in when the vaccine comes in, but I think Josh will do well! As good as the kids were, I was flat exhausted by the time we got home. The kids and I slept until Robert got home from school. Whew!
Robert decided to head back into public school a couple of months ago ... when we realized that our family would not be able to continue to afford the Liahona enrollment fee. We really enjoyed the past year, but Robert was definitely ready to jump back into the middle school life.
He has been nervously excited. He went school shopping with Byron because Byron decided that Robert needed to have more input into his clothing selections than "Mom" allowed him. The result? Robert picked out clothes on his own that I have been trying to interest him in for years. Go figure!
Still, I told him it was obligatory and he submitted with reasonable good grace. Thank you to Ilene who came to play with Ben and Ginny while I took Joshua and Robert to school for the first day. In the future, Robert will take Joshua to the kindergarten courtyard right from the bus ... this is the part that I am nervous about.
... the playground. There are three kindergarted classes, so there were a fair number of kids there and Josh was in 7th heaven! I didn't see anyone I knew, so after complementing Joshua's teacher on her courage (she grinned), I moved to the side to watch. 
I saw several mothers (and grandmothers) in tears, but none of the kids seemed phased. When it was time to start, one of the aids blew on a whistle. About half of the kids (mostly the girls) stopped what they were doing and looked up. The other half (mostly boys ... and including Joshua) didn't even flinch but kept on doing whatever they were doing. I waited to see if they had some plan for those who hadn't heard the whistle and therefore missed the instruction. Then I moved over to Joshua and asked him if he had heard the whistle. He looked at me like I was an idiot and said "Yep!" (think ... Duhhh mom, are you hard of hearing?). I told him that when he heard that whistle he needed to stop what he was doing and look to see if there were instructions because he just missed the call to class. He looked to see the kids lining up and immediately jumped over. I had to explain the "stand in line" concept too because he was just ready to walk into the class. 
When the kids were in the correct line (some kids just joined whatever line was closest) and she could get their attention, Joshua's teacher told the kids to wave good-bye to their parents and go into the class. Joshua waved when everyone else did, but I don't think he really got the concept ... he was just ready to get into the classroom. Off he went without a backward glance. 
When I picked him up this afternoon (they go all day), the teacher said he had a so-so day (never a good sign and certainly not on the first day of school). She said he needed to work on following directions and that he tended to wander around when he wanted to. Hmmmm we have things to work on. When I asked Josh what he did today, he told me that he got to play outside three times, there was a rest time, and he got to eat lunch. That's my boy! Oh, and remember that him outgrowing napping was one of the reasons to go to school? He was out before we got home ... but he is more than ready to head back tomorrow!!!
Ben responded so well to the antibiotics, we decided to go anyway. The drive there was very long - at one point, road work shut the highway down. After about 10 minutes, Byron decided to head back and try a little parallel service track next to the highway to bypass the construction.
This little track was designed for ATV and, of course, the line started to move before we got to the front, but we managed to not wreck the car AND move up a couple of spaces in line, so a fun little adventure. 
