don't worry

Brandon has lost the last 2 months of his life.

He has lost those months to worry.

What could a boy of 12 be so worried about that it keeps him up at night, has had him in tears, and has consumed his thoughts?

7th grade shots, that's what!

Really, he's that worried about shots at 12?

Really!

We have tried to talk him through it. We have tried to remind him of all the things he has done that hurt worse than shots. We have prayed. None of it really worked. So we resorted to the new little treasures we found on our stroll down Olvera Street in California during Spring Break.

We resorted to the worry dolls.

Legend has it that in Guatemala, children will tell one worry to each doll when they go to bed at night and then place the dolls under their pillow. In the morning the dolls have taken their worries away.

Brandon put all 5 dolls under his pillow even though he didn't have 5 different worries.

He had a worry so big it needed all 5 dolls.

His shots were scheduled the next day.

All right, a good ending to this story would be that his worries were gone the next morning, but that is not how this story goes. He continued to worry all day at school and when we were at his appointment I had brief flashbacks to his kindergarten shots where it took 5 nurses and me to hold him down. He didn't need anyone to hold him down this time (I mean, come on, he's 12!) but he was sweating bullets.

And then it was over.

He looked at me and said, "that was it?"

Yes Brandon, that was it, just like we told you. All of that worrying for nothing.

And those precious worry dolls? Well, they are nestled back in their box awaiting the next big worry that will come along in one of my children's lives. Let's hope they take their responsibility a little more seriously next time, or else I'm demanding a $1 refund and sending them on the next plane back to Guatemala!