In which daycare covers their ass...

The diary of Friday - joint injection day

6.30 Get up, dress, rush PuffyFingers through breakfast so we can set off for work

8.00 In work, PuffyFingers entertains the locals by being coy

9.00 A meeting with a Marguerita in hand and child in tow - don't you wish you worked with me?

10.00 Back to my desk to try and clear stuff before leaving for the hospital at 11

10.05 Discover voice mail from hospital asking us to come in 30 to 45 earlier than planned as they hadn't told us about the 30-45 minutes it takes for the numbing cream to work

10.07 - 10.15 Try to contact the OH. Phone mobile - not working. Phone desk phone - not there. Send e-mail - no reply. Swear mightily. Look up people on the same team as OH. Call them : 1 - not there, 2 - not there, 3 - not there, swear again, 4 - Hurrah! He knows where the OH is and will go and get him for me.

10.15 - 10.20 Fidget

10.20 The OH phones back, he'll be waiting outside the building for us.

10.25 Shove PuffyFingers into car, zoom off to collect the OH.

11 Check-in. Get photo badges to prove we are meant to be there. We're whisked into prep room in less than no time. PuffyFingers goes through the usual: She shall be weighed and measured, but not found wanting. She's an expert at it all now, and stands in exactly the right spot for the height check, and doesn't bat an eyelid at having her blood pressure, pulse and temperature measured.

The nurse comes in during all the checks and preps the finger with numbing cream.

The three of us sit in the treatment room waiting for the cream to do it's stuff. We introduce PuffyFingers to the joys of Connect4 on the whiteboard. I get so carried away with my strategy absolutely wooping the OH in the first game that I give the second game away.

The doctor comes in to examine the finger. PuffyFingers greets her with: "Where's my injection?"

Doctor agrees that we should do the injection and thinks the numbing cream needs another 10 to 15 minutes. We continue with Connect4, and regain my cool and am in the middle of wooping the OH again when the doctor and nurse come back in.

PuffyFingers lies on the treatment table nestling her head on my lap. Her finger is cleaned and sterilized. She's totally cool, calm, and collected.

The needle appears. PuffyFingers declares "I don't want the injection" and jerks her hand up towards her face. The doctor, the nurse and I all grab for her arm as we don't want it to be contaminated having just been sterilized. PuffyFingers starts crying.

The nurse squirts freezing spray at the same time as the doctor does the injection. PuffyFingers cries more loudly. The injection seems to go on forever. Puffy sticks her free thumb in her mouth and the wailing ceases. All done and a Diego plaster (band aid) is applied.

12.30 We drop PuffyFingers off at daycare and return to work.

1:50 Voice mail from daycare. I call them back. PuffyFingers finger is swollen (well, duh! She's just had an injection). PuffyFingers is OK. But I tell them to go ahead and give her some Tylenol (acetaminophen/paracetamol) anyway.

3:15 Voice mail from daycare: The finger is hugely swollen, it's black and blue all over, PuffyFingers is in great distress and crying for me. I drop everything zoom out of the office.

3:30 I get to daycare. PuffyFingers is wonderfully happy playing on the classroom computer, there's not a tear in sight. The finger is swollen and has the smallest purple bruise where the injection went in. The teachers in the classroom apologise for panicking me and dragging me out. I get the impression without them saying as much, that the front desk (da management) decided to call me without their approval.

4.00 Get home. Stick the girls in front of a Peppa Pig DVD with plate of apple slices, goldfish crackers and ham.

4.10 Start to tart myself up for the office Holiday party that was postponed in December due to the excessive snow.

5:45 Start to get very, very drunk...