A Spoonful Of Sugar

Who is this little boy who used to be my baby? This little boy who puts on silly glasses and quips "Tip Tip Tallyhoe" just to make his sister laugh. When Jack was little he used to get ear infections up the wazoo. I think he had 10 from the time he was 1 to the time he was 2. (Then tubes, viola ~) But during this time he had to take antibiotics of course, and he was THE WORST medicine taker. I used to have to pin him down, and physically lay across him to get it in his mouth. I would have to push that syringe way back in his throat, practically gagging him and shoot it out at the exact correct speed to get the liquid into him without causing him to choke and throw it back up. It was not pleasant, and not a job for one person. Usually it would be for 3 days, but occasionally I would hear that phrase I began to dread, "twice a day for ten days." After the tubes his infections let up, although he would still get one now and again, and so now and again I would have to muscle him down and shoot pink liquid down his throat. I was remembering this recently because he just got another ear infection. He usually has 2 a year now, which is much more manageable. This year the antibiotics they gave him didn't work, so we had to get something stronger. It is white and thick and has to be taken twice a day for 10 days. 10 days is such a long time, and I was dreading it. But he's 6 now, and although he told me it was "the most disgusting thing I've ever had to drink" he drank it down bravely. It is still shocking to me that my baby is now a boy, and I don't HAVE to force medicine down his throat, or do any number of things for him that I was so used to doing every day. Tonight he actually said "I think I'm getting used to this stuff" as he threw back his head and drained down the last drop of white goop. What a trooper. Now if he can drink that, why can't he eat peas?