Jabs!

The dreaded day arrived today:  that of the vaccinations.  James is turning one year old in a few days, and was due an assortment of vaccines.  Naively, I assumed that many of them would be combined into one shot - but, modern science doesn't seem to have progressed that far.  He was administered not one, not two, but three shots - two in one little thigh, and one in the other.  I had the glorious task of holding down the previously happy baby while he was tortured.  

Much like when I receive shots myself, I couldn't look.  And when we were done, and the nurse handed James a little sticker that said "I was brave today," I felt a pang of pride - for I probably felt braver than he did.  To willingly submit your little baby to pain for the good of their future is difficult indeed - and something that will arise again and again throughout parenthood, I have no doubt. And there won't always be someone handing me a congratulatory sticker at the end.