The Possession Of BrownNut

First off I love my Daughter, BrownNut.
We have a better than average Mother/Daughter relationship.
She’s 10.

I don’t know what happened to her today though.

I will sound like a Mother with no compassion in this blog...

Note…My Children are early risers and school doesn’t start till 8:30. I let them watch T.V till 7:30, then it gets turned off. They have 45 minutes to eat and get dressed before I drive them to school.

They know they have school. It’s not like I just dropped a bomb on them although they act like it.

I start my count down just like every other morning…

…”40 minutes!”

…”30 minutes!”

And so on and so on…

Then at the 4 minute mark I say…

…”Shoes and socks!”

This AM however something went awry…and continued through out the day.

BrownNut came to me this morning with complaints of an earache. She’s a bit dramatic at the thought of something that hurts. Her scale of pain is that of someone who has never felt real physical pain.
I tell her I’ll take her to school and if it still hurts later to see the school nurse.

So I’m at the 4 minute mark and I have no idea what BrownNut is doing and I haven’t seen her since she left the table.
I yell up the stairs to see what’s going on.
She then greets me at the top of the stairs with a seriously bad attitude.
…She list’s off a bunch of things she’s doing that have nothing to do with her getting ready to go to school. She has a lot to complete in 4 minutes.
This is not normal behavior for her…it’s usually my LittleGuy that gives me a hard time.

I am trying to raise independent, self-sufficient, good, empathetic people.
…That take responsibility for their actions.
I will help them when they ask. They are 7, 8 and 10…they are capable of a great deal.

It’s time to leave…she’s still nowhere in site…
...I can hear her saying… “Mom just doesn't understand.”
She’s right, I don’t.
…I tell them…
…”Aight! Lets get this fashizzle on the road.”

She knows I’m frustrated.

I get in my MiniVan and my boys follow suit.
Nothing…I have no idea what she is doing.
Garage door open I turn on my ignition.
I wait 3 minutes.
We are already running late.
I hate being late, it’s disrespectful.
I honk my horn.
A couple minutes later she runs out all distressed.
…”It’s all your fault Mom!”
I’m not sure what I did.

I drop them off and get home.
I get a call from the school nurse at 8:35.
I tell her that I won’t be able to make back for another 30 minutes and that I will bring BrownNut some Tylenol.
I get there and give her the Tylenol and tell her I’ll make an appointment with the Doc.
She goes back to class.
I get a 1:00 appointment for her and pick her up from school a little after 12:00.
She’s surprised to see me and says she’s fine.
I tell her it was the Tylenol probably but we are gonna have her ear checked out anyway.
She hims and haws.

She asks me on the way if it’s gonna hurt. I’m taking her in for an earache…
…I tell her it won’t hurt.

Note…I am not a Mom that takes their Child to the Doctor at a drop of a hat. I believe most things, like earaches work themselves out…and their is an over abundance of antibiotics dished out just to put over reactive Mothers at peace.

I honestly didn’t WANT or think she NEEDED to go to the Doctor but sometimes I have to cover my ass.

We get to her appointment and the Tech notices that BrownNut hasn’t had her flu shot.

Note…This is my ass here. My Ex had mentioned that the Children hadn’t had their flu shots the other day. His job entails dealing with natural disasters, to include outbreaks of viruses and such…he’s a bit of a stickler.
…And please don’t get into vaccines with me.

Then I make a terrible mistake, or what can be viewed as one…I have my side though.

I tell them we should take care of the flu shot too.

My beautiful Daughter that I love with all my heart becomes possessed.
I don’t know where she went but the Child in front of me was NOT my Child.
She starts pleading with me like she’s on the way to the guillotine.
…”I DON’T WANT IT IN MY LEG! IT WILL HURT!”
…”PLEASE MOM NO, I DON’T WANT A SHOT!”
…"BUT IT’S GONNA HURT!”
…”YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!”
The Tech tells her it’s not going in her leg but in her shoulder…
…”NO! NOT THERE EITHER!"
She went on and on and on and on.
She has over reacted in the past, this is not new. Her reaction is off the charts this time though.
The tech suggest he get someone to help out.
While he’s out of the room I try my best to reason with her. I swear by all the Gods one thing I don’t get is unreasonableness. It’s just a shot, a tiny one.
I continue trying to reason with her to no avail.

I’m at my wits end.

He comes back with help…and I can see people have started gathering at the door. She was screaming at the top of her lungs...
She is freaking out and will not let anyone near her.
It took 3 people to hold her down.

Some of you will read this and perhaps think that because I told her it wouldn’t hurt and then surprise she’s gonna get a shot that I am to blame for her reaction.
I argue that in the past she has had fair warning to prepare and STILL freaked out.
When the Doctor said after this event had taken place that at her 11 year check up she would need 2 shots I could see her brain working itself up in another frenzy.

I could have said, no we will do it later, but then she will get it in her head that this is something we can compromise on…I encourage my Children to find compromise in situations…to include when I say no to something.

Her ear was fine by the way.

I took her to IHop and we had a good long talk and it seems pancakes are equal to an exorcism.
When I dropped her off at school we had mended our tear.

As I wrote this and re-read it I feel dreadful about how I handled the the whole morning and afternoon.
…well not the morning.