Nope, Can't Catch a Break

Soren, Sigrid and I all took a fun and, ultimately, pointless trip to the "Express" Care clinic at Kent Hospital yesterday, since I've had a raging sore throat and no voice for three days, and Soren has been sick since time immemorial and finally tripped the "Go To Doctor" switch by chundering all over the coffee table yesterday morning. Sigrid, however, was just along for the ride, since she's been on amoxicillin for her ear infection and doesn't seem to have caught any major viruses in the meantime. Atta girl.

I called and made doctor's appointments for me and for Soren, which was a nice thought but very inconvenient, since they were half an hour apart at offices in two different cities. I would pay good money, incidentally, to have the pediatrician swab me for strep after taking a look at Soren. It would have saved us so much hassle. I mean, I understand why the doctor can't examine someone who isn't his patient, but that won't stop me from complaining about it.

So, yeah, I made appointments for the afternoon. In the meantime, I decided to try out the only place where someone would see both of us at the same time: "Express" Care. I should really put more quotes around that word. I guess it's technically faster than waiting for a doctor to randomly wander into your home and ask you what's wrong, but there's really nothing Express about it.

Here is the part of the story, however, where I stop complaining and start throwing praise around like it's going out of style. My two children were absolute angels while we waited a million years to be seen at the clinic. I am especially proud of Soren, who can actually make a conscious decision whether or not he wants to be good, and chose goodness despite being sick AND missing his nap. He sat nicely in the chair next to me for a while, playing with trucks, then played with trucks on the floor, then took off for the door while I was nursing Sigrid (okay, that part wasn't so good, but a helpful stranger stopped him from escaping), and then serenaded a really old guy with a charming rendition of Old MacDonald.

We were there for 2.5 hours before finally giving up and going to our appointments (Chris was good enough to come home early and take Soren to his doctor). In the end, I was a little annoyed that we waited there for nothing, but since Soren was playing happily the whole time, it almost felt like I could classify it as our outing for the day. It's just as well, since we can't really go anywhere that's actually fun until we stop shedding horrible pathogens.

As an added bonus, he likes the bubble-gum flavored amoxicillin, so there are no fights about taking his medicine. And he swallows it, unlike Sigrid, who seems to enjoy the flavor so much that she grins hugely and lets it all dribble out of her mouth. Sigh.