"All Gone"

You never know what a day might bring. Today was relatively uneventful, oh, up until about two hours ago. We ate a fun family dinner at a great all-you-can eat pizza place we love and came home to enjoy a nice Family Game Night after putting Caleb to bed. So, there we were, most of us two properties into having our first monopolies when we heard Caleb stirring in his room. We figured we’d been too loud and we had woken him – probably true. After a few minutes I went in to check on him after hearing him sneeze a couple of times. He had his finger in his nose and I commented sweetly, half-jokingly -–“did you put something up your nose ?” He replied “All gone.” Since I wasn’t sure if that meant yes or no, I decided to let it go. I noticed he had a pink plastic ear to a Mr. Potato Head with him and thought briefly about taking it from him, but realized it was really too big to pose any kind of choking hazard. I tucked him in, him still holding the Mr. Potato Head ear and I left the room and went back to the game. A few minutes later I heard a weird noise from his room and hushed all of us. Then we heard Caleb was crying and obviously in pain. Thom immediately rushed in to see what was wrong and I followed. Well – I’m learning – evidently “All gone” means “ Yes Mommy I put something up my nose.” And the crying that followed meant that the pointy, stick part on the pink Mr. Potato Head ear was not an appropriate tool for retrieving whatever was up there!! With a crying, drippy little boy in Thom’s arms we frantically searched for a flashlight to shine up his nose, remembering briefly that it was last seen somewhere in Kara’s room --- Lord only knows what nook, cranny, box, or drawer it’s been shoved it by now. So, Kara grabs one of these cool magnetized flashlights from Thom’s mom and sure enough Caleb has something bright green and plastic shoved in his left nostril! I vaguely recognized it as something I had seen yesterday in his room and had designated as trash but neglected to obviously throw away.

Ok, shoes on everyone, we’re going to the ER.

I called my parents regarding Kara to see if they could somehow watch her – there place, our place, the ER waiting room, I don’t care – just let me focus on the one in pain for the moment. So, they chose here. I go to the ER with Caleb while Thom waits with Kara for Grandma and Papa to arrive. He sends us off and says “I’ll meet you at the ER.” I go ahead. Caleb had a grand time in the thankfully empty waiting room. He ran about 10 laps around the very large room while I wondered when Thom might arrive, keeping an eye on the door. We were ushered into an exam room and quickly seen by a very efficient female doctor from Bavaria, Germany. In a matter of moments she had Caleb easily restrained thanks to Man Nurse and myself and had relieved him of the foreign body in his nose. Where is Thom? Hmm. So, now I’m waiting for the discharge nurse. Will Daddy get here before we’re discharged? Do I wait in the waiting room? What might the hold up be? So, I’m at the “here’s-where-the-rubber-meets-the-road, what’s-your-insurance” desk when in walks Thom.

And now his side of the story --- so Lynn-nore leaves with Caleb and about ten minutes later L’s parents arrived. That was good cause it gave Kara and I a few minutes to get our bearings. Kara was very calm. She was VERY concerned about Caleb and is wise beyond her years when she finds herself in emergency mode. When L’s parents arrived I handed Kara off to them, which was very difficult because she really wanted to be with her brother. She wanted to comfort him and help him. She offered the pillow she had been given at her last hospital visit as something that would make him feel better, so I took it with me. I got out to the truck and headed for the ER. Right away I noticed the truck was running really rough, but I thought I could make it. Then the engine light came on and I smelled something strange. I pulled over and called my father-in-law. Jack came to get me and drove me to the ER, dropping me off just in time to chase Caleb down the hall while L answered the “how-will-you-be-paying-for-this-tonight” lady.

We came home, exhausted. The whole way home we told Caleb – “No. No. No. Do not put things in your nose. No toys. Nothing. Never!” We’re pretty sure all he heard was “brum, brum, brum, no nose.” We got home and caught everyone up and put both kids to bed. Thom got on the phone with USAA to find a towing company to get the truck out of the median on the road. He then had to go out and meet the guy with the tow truck and now --- at 12:15 we’re finally all at home.

Did I metioned that I was already exhausted when we were playing monopoly.