DOCTOR BEAN?

I used to think Bean would grow up to be a doctor (or get into some sort of nurturing/healing job). She loves to put bandages on people, and take their temperature, and put blankets on them when they feel sick.

But, I'm noticing a trend lately. Very strange. It all started when we were watching "Go, Diego, Go!" Diego was rescuing a couple of kinkajous from some kind of prickly bush. Each of the kinkajous had an injury on its hand. Now, if you've ever watched Diego, you know that nothing is drawn with a great deal of detail. But, Bean was very upset about the boo-boos on the kinkajous, and she covered her eyes so she wouldn't have to see all the ... um ... "gore(?)". She reacts the same way if she gets hurt. She doesn't want to see her boo-boos, and she doesn't want anyone else to see her boo-boos. I can eventually get them bandaged by promising not to look at the boo-boo while I put on the bandage (I'm hoping she outgrows this before she realizes how impossible that is).

Then, we had a trip to the pediatrician. Where Bean had to get her shots in preparation for school (I'm homeschooling, but I still need to provide proof of inoculations to the state). That meant four shots. On most kids Bean's age, those shots would be in the arm. But, I don't think Bean has one ounce of body fat on her little frame, and I was concerned about those big needles going into her little upper arms; so, we opted for the butt shots. It took two people to hold her down while the nurse administered the injections to my screaming cherub, who clenched her little cheeks together so tightly that (as the nurse put it) it was like trying to give an inoculation to a brick wall. I assumed things would get better once the shots were over. I was wrong.

For the rest of the day and the next day, Bean adamantly refused to use the toilet for her business, claiming that it would "hurt my bottom." I could kind of see the logic, but I eventually had to place her, screaming, on the toilet and supervise until she eventually expelled her waste.

Yesterday, she was playing outside with Aunt Tracy and scraped her knee on the sidewalk. She wouldn't let anyone get her pants off to bandage it, because she didn't want to see it. Okay. I was amenable to letting her sleep with her pants on for a night. But that was followed with, "I can't go pee-pee on the potty because I hurt my knee." Huh? Not getting it.

I guess in kids' minds there is a logic to all these kinds of things ... In the meantime, my poor child has not peed on the potty voluntarily in over 24 hours.