Needles & Calpol…….mmmmm, Calpol

It’s been more than two weeks since my last post. This is basically a sad indication of how busy life has been at work, and how little time I’ve had to do stuff with Marley (and my wife). 

That’s not to say it has been completely without incident; he did get his jabs a couple of weeks ago.

I call them “his jabs” because I have absolutely no idea what they’re for, or what exactly was injected in to my child’s body. I think I remember the Doctor mentioning Tuberculosis at one point, plus another hundred other things that would be going in to the various needles.

And to be honest, therein lies the problem: Needles. 

I was trying so hard not to think about the sharp, pointy object about to pierce my baby’s skin, that I didn’t really listen to anything the Doctor said. 

I have always hated needles….it’s not the fear of pain, or blood, or anything like that. It’s simply the thought of a large needle poking in to skin. I can barely type this without throwing up.

Right after his jabs he was (understandably) a little bit upset, so I sent my wife off to the pharmacy right by the Doctor’s surgery to get some Calpol. 

I was quite excited about this. 

I used to absolutely love Calpol as a kid. But my wife told me I wasn’t to have any. I ‘promise’ I didn’t take any…..

Anyway, while she went off to buy it, I was left standing in the Doctor’s waiting room. Several people (mostly old ladies) smiled at Marley, and gave him glowing looks as they walked past. I was chatting to one such lady about “the jabs” when a man, perhaps in his mid 40s, walked in.

“Oh, what is it…just a boy? How old is it?” he asked me. In those exact words.

“Umm, yes, it’s a boy”, I replied.

“Oh, when was he born? Exactly?” he continued, insistently.

“Err, 18th of June”, I replied.

“That was a Saturday”, he said, without even pausing to think about it. And then: “That was the day I was thrown out of Sainsbury’s for being naughty”.

Silence.

“I’m behaving much better now. The Doctor told me”.

“Ummmmm…..”

Fortunately, that was the end of the conversation. He left. And my wife returned with the delicious Calpol shortly after, so we headed home.

When we got back, Marley needed fed straight away so my wife took him off to the bedroom to get him settled. 

I put back Marley’s changing bag and packed away all of the stuff you have to take out every time you go anywhere with a baby. And I definitely didn’t sneak in to the kitchen to have a swig of Calpol….