This has also been posted on Feb29th.net – a project to record one special day in time across the globe…

After a long night of random wakings, the day started suddenly when I realised I had finally slept for two hours solid and needed to be leaving for the hospital in 15 minutes.

BOING!

That’s me, jumping out of the bed, grabbing some clothes from the random assortment littering my bedroom floor (they’re clean, but they never get to be put away as I need them before I have the time to shelve them…) and sprinting into the bathroom for a quick shower before donning the aforementioned clothes.

Luckily, it turned out the Other Half had been a little more organised whilst I was sleeping, and the Wee Man was dressed and ready for a speedy exit, even if Bubby D was still in her nightwear.

10 minutes later and we were in the car and on our way.

The Wee Man has not yet learned that hospitals in general are places of long, tedious waits with overpriced parking, limited eating opportunities and uncomfortable chairs. Instead, he views them as a great adventure with new people to meet, new toys to play with and new experiences to take part in. Perhaps this is the best way to view a hospital, really. It does seem to make the whole experience just a bit more pleasant. In fact, I think if they made adult waiting rooms as colourful and fun as children’s waiting rooms, people might be a little bit happier about their discomfort.

A brief weighing (14.76kg) and height (93.5cm) taking session later, and we were in to see the neurologist.

‘You need a brain wave scan’ he pronounced. ‘You’ll have to wear a little bonnet with wires, for about 15 minutes’.

The Wee Man seemed indifferent to this proposal. He was far more interested in whether the experience would result in a lollipop. ‘I like lollipops’ he informed whoever was listening. The student doctor seemed quite keen on the idea of a lollipop too, as it turns out. Unfortunately however, the neurologist had no lollipops, and the Wee Man had to settle for a rice cracker. (The neurologist likes them with marmite, apparently. Sounds like a recipe of nothingness and yuck, to me).

But as luck would have it, later, having returned from the hospital, and after acquiring a brand new big boy haircut, the barber handed him a lollipop in the shape of an orange. ‘Here is your haircut lollipop’ he said.

‘I like lollipops’ the Wee Man informed the barber. And he smiled all the way home.