Not for your mouth...

As a parent I have this horrible fear of my children putting things in their mouths that do not belong there. This is a really strange fear since I have a tendency to hold things in my mouth quite frequently. I am a pen chewer of the worst kind. It is not hard to recognize a writing tool that I claim as my own; they all could be identified with dental records if it ever actually came to that. I also hold needles (from popping blisters--I don't sew) in my teeth. I have been known to even carry groceries and Fuss' binki in my mouth when my hands are full, which they frequently are. Even so, I do not like my children to put things in their mouths...and now I know why. Olie, Skater, and Moo love to build things with their Magnetix sets, and they have plenty of sets to build things with. Since Fuss was born I have begged, pleaded, and even threatened the boys that if the Magnetix are stored low enough or left out for Fuss to get into that I would be throwing them away. I also told them that I would do this because they were small enough that if Fuss were to accidentally swallow one or more of these pieces it was possible that he could die. I thought that they understoood...I thought wrong. They did understand that they shouldn't leave them down. They didn't really understand why, at least Moo didn't.

On Saturday I was attending a baby shower when I received a call from D. It went something like this:

D: Moo swallowed a metal ball from the Magnetix set.

Me: What??

D: Moo swallowed a metal ball from the Magnetix set.

Me: He's seven!

D: I know...

Me: How did this happen?

D: He had it in his mouth and he swallowed it.

Me: [Thank you Captain Obvious!] Why in the world did Moo put a marble in his mouth?

D: I don't know, but what should I do?

Me: I don't know! I never imagined that it would be our 7 year old that I would be worrying about swallowing a marble! [So, I asked my aunt whose home I was at and is thankfully a nurse...if your child swallows a marble, as long as it is not magnetic, it should pass okay once it makes it to his stomach.]

Thinking there was nothing we could do since it was not stuck in his throat, we didn't end up taking Moo to the doctor...until the next morning. Sunday morning Moo woke up complaining of a stomach ache, which he does every Sunday morning in an attempt to get out of going to church, so we made him continue to get dressed and ready. He continued to complain. Finally, D told him that if his stomach was really hurting then we would take him to the doctor, but that he would probably have to get a shot. When Moo said, "Ok" we thought, "Maybe he really is sick." He really hates shots...who doesn't? While D braved church with Olie and Skater alone, I braved InstaCare with Fuss and a soon to be puking Moo alone (I definitely had it harder). Once the puking began I figured that he might actually be sick, because who would puke on purpose just to get out of going to church. Long story shorter, after 1 1/2 hours at the InstaCare, including a fun ride for

Moo on the x-ray table, and a fun tour of the facility guided by a running Fuss for me, we found out that the marble is currently in his intestines and the puking was most likely not related to the marble at all. The doctor suspected he may have the flu on top of the marble issue...what a lucky kid. We have no need to worry unless it doesn't pass within the next couple of days--and by "pass" you know what I mean. Luckily for us D took the boys back to Lucy tonight, so she gets to check "things" out to make sure that the marble comes out...fun times! This is one time I am not sorry that our kids have 2 sets of parents.

There is a sad, but funny twist to this as well...because of my warnings for Fuss' sake when Moo told D that he had swallowed the marble it was followed with, "Am I going to die?" I guess I need to explain the "why" a little better. Moo thought that all the attention he received at the doctor's office and at D's parents' house afterward was so great that D and I took it upon ourselves to explain to him how they would have to get the marble out if it didn't come out on its own to deter any future swallowing experiments. I did ask Moo how it was that he had swallowed a marble, and I have come to learn that he is as helpful as his dad. His reply: "I put it in my mouth, and when I swallowed it just went down." That explains everything!