No More Tears

I had to pick up Rachel from the school nurse's office today. She went in for a cough drop and had a 100.5 degree fever.

Somehow, I managed to line up a doctor's appointment on the way home. Rachel started crying, fearing she would get a shot.

Well, as it turns out, she didn't. But many tears were shed as she had her throat swabbed for the first time. There was a sudden stunned look on her face and she looked at me as if to say, "How can you allow this to happen?" before she burst into tears.

When the doctor came in, the crying resumed. Doctor Cooper assured Rachel he wouldn't hurt her; he said he leaves that to the nurses. He looked at her throat, in her ears and checked her breathing.

Diagnosis: Croupy cough. Remedy: Liquid steroid with a possible side effect of making her hyper. Daddy's note: Oh, great!

As a reward, I took her to Olive Garden. She cleaned her plate of spaghetti, so she earned a kids' chocolate gelato. As the woman at the next table left, she eyed the dessert and expressed wishes she could have one.

We told her Rachel had just finished at the doctor, but she didn't have to get a shot."

"Yeah, I cried for nothing!" she related.