What I Learned at a 5 Year Old Check Up...

Today I took my daughter to the dreaded 5 year old check up. Here's what I learned for the bargain price of our $15 co-pay:

1. 5 year check ups sucks! Yes, I know that is not a nice word. It's a word I try not to use, and it's definately not a word my kids are allowed to say. However, since I don't allow myself to use curse words that is the strongest word in my arsenal, and believe me this visit where I was forced to hold my child down while she screamed and cried as they stuck her four, yes four, times required the worst word I can think of.

2. Ashton inherited my handicap when it came to yearly check ups. Let's just say when faced with a certain kind of cup severe, let's call it "stage fright", sets in. Which means I got to leave there with a brown paper bag only to return with it heavier a couple of hours later!

3. Spray on numbing stuff doesn't help the shot hurt less it just freaks my daughter out because of the coldness.

4. A big brother dancing and singing Hannah Montana songs and "I'm a pretty, pretty girl" might get a small smile, but when he accidentally hits himself it gets a big laugh through tears. Ah, slapstick humor never fails.

5. When you decide to take your kids to a movie to treat them for braving through the doctor's visit, don't assume the 1:00 showing of Space Chimps won't be sold out.

6. There are a lot of previews in movies these days (including a long one for a wrestling show) and as I was getting my blog post to complain about it in my head, a great preview came on for a christian movie! Can you imagine a christian movie with a real Hollywood preview being tolerated. It even mentioned God several times, showed the cross a few times, and showed Kirk Cameron (the star) prostrate on his floor crying out to God. How cool is that? It is called Fireproof, and it looks really good.

7. I found myself as attracted to Kirk Cameron today as in the 80's!

8. My husband should have been a kids' movie writer because he's the only person I know who could come up with as many chimp puns as the monkeys in the movie. A small taste for you, when they had to fix a rocket: "chimp my ride". Yeah, I know it's bad, welcome to my life!

9. You can spend a ridiculous amount on movie tickets, candy apparently mixed with gold dust, and a Coke even I didn't want to pay that much for only to walk in Walmart and tell your son he can't play a video game then have to resist the urge to strangle him when he asks why you never spend any money on him.

10. Most importantly, (this is something I knew, but it was nice to be reminded of it) it is a gift to be able to spend time with just my 2 big kids (thanks Aunt Donnie the free babysitter!). They are 2 people I absolutely love being with and much easier to get in and out of the car than their brothers!