Pediatricians, Opticians, and Dentists, oh my!

Did you know, that starting Kindergarten requires your child to see every medical professional ever known, and that they get freaked out along the way?? This is what I have learned this summer as we get ready for T to start Kindergarten in 3 weeks.

A few weeks ago, just after Uncle Tim left, he had his 5 year appointment at the pediatrician. I expected this to be a basic well-child check-up with the added fun of shots. Since T has gotten all his vaccines on time, he hasn't had any shots since his 2-year visit. While this has been nice, it's VERY different for a 5-year-old to get shots..... VERY DIFFERENT!

So we went to his appointment, and they started with his height and weight. He's still a skinny mini in the 5th percentile for weight, and officially weights about a pound less than his younger brother. But he's still in the 50th percentile for height, so those things combined make him look like a toothpick! After the height and weight, the nurse handed him a cup, and asked him (nonchalantly, I might add) to pee in it. Okay, for you and me, we've heard that request before. The look on Trev's face.... PRICELESS!!! So I took him in the bathroom, and explained to him what he had to do and why. He was still stunned, and finally (very quietly) asked me, "Do I have to drink it?". Duh...it's a cup, he thinks they're gonna make him drink it! Yikes!!! So I quickly answered him and got him over that one! Then he was upset because I was going to stay in the bathroom with him (T is very private about going potty) and so I told him I wouldn't look while he peed, but that I would just hold the cup. Again, paranoia....he was worried about peeing on my hand! Eventually we got him over that, I didn't look, and he peed in the cup!

The rest of the visit was okay, after a LONG wait in the office for the doctor. After the doctor came in (no issues there) the nurse came back in for the shots. I only told him about the shots after we got to the doctors office. Seriously, why tell him sooner... he'll just freak out about it!!! So he got his shots, with much screaming and crying and yelling at the nurse that she better "never do that again!". 5 minutes later he was just fine!!!

A few weeks later, in fact just a few days ago, we had the 2nd visit required for kindergarten. The eye doctor. Again, I didn't warn him about this appointment, he'll just fixate on it until we go and WORRY! Yes, he's a worrier! So I told him in the car, and he was kinda quiet. But I told him they were just going to look at his eyes and check them out. He seemed fine. We went in and there were (of course) lots of glasses on the walls. We went into the office and the optician was great... checking him out and making it all seem like games. He did very well, passed all the tests, and even impressed her with his knowledge of numbers and words! At the end, she said (more to me than him), "His vision is perfect, he won't need glasses anytime soon". And Trevor let out a huge sigh and was visibly relieved. He said to me as we walked out, "I was worried I'd get glasses since you and Daddy have them". Duh.... of course you'd think that! I gotta start anticipating these things better!!!

Next week is our 2nd trip to the dentist. The kids were FANTASTIC last time they went, and went back together without me going back there at all!!! Holy cow! I'm hoping there won't be any surprises at this visit, but who knows! At this rate, I'm sure Trevor will expect or misunderstand something, but darned if I know what!!!