Adventures in Baby Sitting

Today I got a call from Kaylee wanting to know if I could come and sit with Audrey at one clinic while she took Genevieve to another. Fortunately I was able to do that for her. When I arrived, Audrey and another young lady about her age were coloring quietly side by side. The little girl, Madelyn was a very quiet, shy child who refrained from involving herself in idle conversation. Her mother did tell me that Madelyn was positive that after she had reasoned with the health care professionals they would realize that she indeed DID NOT need a shot and would let her go un-punctured.
They called Madelyn into the "shot" room and shortly thereafter summoned Miss Audrey as well. Upon entering the room, we observed a meltdown in progress. The subdued and very calm Miss Madelyn was having a fit worthy of the movie The Exorcist. She was shrieking at the top of her lungs, tears were literally squirting out of her eyes and she was beginning to hyperventilate. Audrey's eyes got about the size of teacups and she stopped still and looked up at me. I told her "Everything is fine, and we aren't going to act like that are we?" She affirmed that we indeed were not and we proceeded on with our inoculations.
Audrey received 3 shots in each arm which made for an impressive array of bandaids and she never uttered a sound nor shed one tear. I was so proud of her to be able to maintain her own composure while that was going on right next to her. When we left, Madelyn was still freaking out and was as yet still un-immunized.
We had to wait a few minutes for Kaylee and Genevieve and when I pulled out of the parking lot, Madelyn and her mother had not yet emerged from the building. They may still be there.
I felt horrible for the child, horrible for the mother, bad for the nurse and everyone else having to hear the sound of a child who was obviously scared out of her mind. That behavior is contagious and I wonder how many parents had to wrestle their children into submission after we left.
But Audrey walked out with her head held high, a bag of candy in tow (courtesy of a very proud and grateful grandmother) and with bragging rights that she didn't cry one bit. Good job Audrey! I'll be your shot partner any time.