An Ode to Goofy Juice

Lil' Goldfish had surgery the day before Thanksgiving to have his tonsils and adenoids removed and tubes put in his ears. He's been off-and-on sick for quite a while, so rather than being nervous about the surgery, I was actually quite thankful that he was getting it over with.

We had to be at the hospital very early in the morning, which wasn't too pleasant, as Lil' Goldfish is not a morning person. And when we got to pre-op and he had to take his pajamas off and get into the surgical gown, he lost it. See, he has these bizarre modesty issues. He's happy to run around the house stark naked all day long. But if he raises his arms in public and shows a peek of his wee belly button because his shirt's a little small, heaven help us. It offends his Victorian sensibilities. So stripping down in the hospital led to much screaming and thrashing and dirty looks.

Cue the goofy juice! Goofy juice is a kid-friendly version of that Everclear punch you used to mix up in your bathtub in college. It's a pre-anesthesia medicine that helps relax the child.

Here's Lil' Goldfish about five minutes after drinking his juice. He's pondering the meaning of life:

Five minutes after that -- let the party begin!

Right before they took him away, he stood on the bed and started dancing around while singing "I'm naked and I'm silly!" over and over. I got a little glimpse of what he'd be doing on Saturday nights in about 20 years.

It was pretty easy to let him go since, rather than screaming and crying and trying to cling to me, he was laughing and having a blast. But seeing him in post-op just after the surgery was pitiful. He kept wailing and trying to pull his IV out. It killed me.

Overall, my little man did very well, though. We spent one night in the hospital, but by the next morning, it was as if he'd never had surgery, and we got released earlier than I expected. Just in time to hit Luby's for Thanksgiving dinner, in fact.

Guess what I was thankful for?