Months ago, I wrote a post about Always the Runner-Up. Never the Winner.
A Haiku Contest hosted by @vdux.

I am now a proud member of the Haiku Hall of Champions.

The theme was kids and it just so happened to be my suggested theme... hmm... coincidence? No. Just skill, baby! That, and I know kids. Kids are crazy.
This is my winning Haiku.

It may or may not be based on my kids... or kid... one in particular... some may call Damien from time to time... I would say she’s a handful, but it's more like four hands-full.

So, recently my kid was sick and one of the biggest challenges as a parent is giving medicine to a toddler who refuses to take it. This kid pulls off something straight out of the exorcist to avoid her meds with us. We’ve tried all the tricks from sweet talk/reasoning and bribery to hiding it in food. Nothing worked for us, except having other people do it. For some stupid reason, if it was NOT one us (the parents), there was no problem. No fight. No mess. But having someone else around to give our kid meds wasn’t always an option, so as much as it pained us to do this 2 to 3 times a day, this was our only method that worked.

PARENT 1:
1 . Lay toddler down.
2 . Hold down arms and legs (to stop the flailing and kicking)
3 . Keep head up and still (to stop the whipping back and forth)

PARENT 2:
4 . Plug nose to get mouth open
5 . Inject medicine into the side of cheek slowly with a syringe (avoid choking)
Careful! Inject too much at a time and risk a face, hair, and body full of medicine.

PARENT 1 and 2:
6 . Praise kid for taking meds and provide water and sweet treat to stop the crying
7 . Relax. It’s done. Everything is rainbows and sunshine again.
8 . Repeat process at next scheduled dose.

On the sixth day, she shocked us. She decided to happily take her medication on her own... with a big SMILE on her face. As if those other days, she was just screwing with us... Either way, we were just HAPPY we didn't have to make her take it again.

Cards will be sent at post payout.