Finally summer is just around the
bend, the farm markets and grocery stores are full of fresh summer produce, and
there’s lots of opportunity to getting working on some good ol’ clean eating! No
more cheesy comfort foods for this chicky! Yesterday, as K-aos and I were
walking into our local grocers, I offered to buy her a treat. The first thing
she sees when she walks in is a large wooden bin of corn. She shakes my arm,
“Mommy! That’s what I want as my treat! Corn on the cob!!! Please? Please? Please?”
Well, how can I say no to that one? It’s healthy, 5 for $1.95 and won’t give
her a three hour sugar buzz!
As we start to select our ears,
K-aos says, “Mommy, do you remember when…”
She doesn’t have to finish her
query… I know exactly what she’s going to say before she verbalizes it. Selecting
the corn brings back that “not so fond” memory, of our corny incident from last
summer.
I was standing in the kitchen, removing an
ear of peaches and cream corn from the steaming pot, when I hear a scream from
the dining room. K-aos is screaming bloody murder, and flailing around like a
fish at the table, “Help me! Help me! It hurts!” She is thrashing about and
screaming at such a high pitch, that I wonder if I need to call an ambulance.
The other kids at the table have to shriek, “K.aos
put a corn up her nose!!!”
Oh dear. A parent’s nightmare! We’ve all heard the trauma stories about the kid
who stuck a marble up his nose, or a pencil eraser, or a piece of Lego. Well, it
finally happened to me! I try my best to explain to her, “K-aos! You have to calm down. The more you freak out, the more likely
you are to sniff the kernel further up your nose! You have to let me see.”
It takes a lot of convincing, but she finally holds still long enough for me to
get a look. There It Is. A great big
corn kernel 'cork', lodged in her nostril. As it was my first experience
dislodging a foreign object from a nose, I first suggest, “Let’s try blowing it out.” I grab a tissue and encourage her to
blow, but that doesn’t work. She starts panicking again, and I can feel my
blood pressure rising as I realize that this might be more difficult than I initially
thought. I scream “K. you have to calm
down. You are going to snuff it into your brain!!!!” Probably not something I
should have said; however, she composed herself, and lets me sneak another
look. I go get a set of tweezers and within several attempts, I am able to
capture the culprit and extract it. Pheww!!!!!!!! I did it! Supermom saves the
day! I hold up the piece of corn high in the air and wave it in triumph! I
breathe a sigh of relief. This was followed by a lecture to all the kids never
to stick anything in their noses!
So, did I go about the whole ordeal properly? Was I able to
maintain my composure? Not 100%. It was pretty dramatic. So, I’ve done my
research for the next time I may become a proboscis medic. For anyone who might
ever be around kids, there is always a chance that you may someday have to go
through the same ordeal as I. Here is a link with advice for what to do when this
happens to you. Stay calm. http://www.whattoexpect.com/toddler/grooming/stuck-in-nose.aspx#
Love,
Amy
(oh the things you learn!)
