Feeling Her Pain

Today Cora had a little check-up. The boys speculated all the way there about whether or not she would get "an ouchie," as Thomas says. When the big moment came and they discovered that she needed a routine lead screening, they groaned. Thomas burst into tears, crying over and over, "I'm worried about my sister!" The drama built until the moment of the poke. Thomas literally huddled in a corner, clinging to Henry, sobbing. He collapsed to the floor in hysterics, holding onto Henry for support. I was torn between tears of pride in his protective love for his sister and laughter over the ridiculous cartoonish quality of it all. The nurse finally bandaged Cora and I was able to convince Thomas that she would go on living a normal life. And Cora's reaction to it all? Not so much as a flinch. Maybe the show helped to distract her. Or maybe she knew what I wasn't able to convince Thomas of: a finger prick is no big deal...