High Price for Holmes

Since it's a slow work week for Husband, we decided to have a babysitter come over so we could sneak out and see an afternoon movie. (Would you believe the last movie Husband and I saw in the theater was Night at the Museum...the first one. What was that...three years ago?)

We have a nice young man who is 24 and was once an exchange student who lived with us. He's very nice, very responsible, and the kiddos love him.

The last thing I said to him was "If the kiddos want to nap in my bed, that's fine, just plunk them in my bed and let them."

I met Husband downtown, and we saw Sherlock Holmes. Has anyone seen it? I thought it was really good (kinda like Sherlock Holmes meets CSI Miami....fine Holiday fun) I fully think that Robert Downey Jr. must have one heck of a horseshoe up his a**, 'cause here's a guy who has been down (way down) many times, and land's not one, but two franchises (Holmes, which was left ripe for a sequel, and Iron Man, the sequel comes out in May...and looks AWESOME!)

Blah, blah, blah...we really enjoyed the movie, then hopped a bus home. The kiddos were awake and bouncing off the walls. Our sitter said "They made a bit of a mess of your room." Which did not surprise me...I often liken watching two toddlers to having wild raccoons in your house.

I went upstairs to assess the damages, and found cough drop wrappers all over the floor. Like an idiot, I left a whole bag of cough drops on my bedside table. The Little Man had eaten about ten of them.

Initially, I didn't think much about this other than...poor Little Man is going to have an upset tummy...I mean, we used to chain eat those cherry Smith Brother's throat lozenges like addicts when we were kiddos. Soon, it was bedtime and he was one cranky customer. I could smell the menthol on his breath whenever he opened his mouth...and he just cried and cried:(

Miss Peach was asleep, Husband had gone out...I'm alone and I called the emergency room.

I was transferred many times, and finally got a doctor. After telling her my tale of woe...she barked "I don't know...just bring him in....but don't bring him here, bring him to another emergency room." (really, "I don't know" what kind of an answer is that from a doctor?)

Wow...that really didn't leave me feeling reassured at all. What do I do now? Do I wake up Miss Peach, carry them into the cold night to sit in and ER? I really didn't want to...but The Little Man was inconsolable.

I called emergency room "B" and a lovely nurse answered the phone. Talk about the voice of reason. She said "I think you should call poison control before you bring him in...the number is 800-222-1222"

Isn't that brilliant? Why after four years of being a mother did I not have that number on the fridge? I felt like a complete idiot:P

I called poison control, told my tale of woe yet another time, and the gentleman on the line said, without hesitation, "there is not enough medicine in them to do any harm, and the amount he ate will just leave him with an upset tummy. He'll have a cranky night, and he'll be fine in the morning."

Well, he had a cranky night, and he was fine in the morning. I guess he knew what he was talking about.

I consider myself a good mother. I have gates up all over the house to keep kiddos out of the kitchen, the dining room, I have child locks on cabinets...and yet, sh*t happens. I felt like I had made such a rookie mistake in leaving the cough drops out (D'oh!). I have no moral of the story...other than to say, no matter how much you plan for, wild raccoons will get into everything...and put poison control's number on the fridge.

27 comments

  1. ...And program it into your mobile phone.

    At least your "sleuthing" paid off.

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  2. Ok I'm putting poison control on my fridge. Glad he's ok. If it makes you feel better, my kid ate an entire bottle of baby teething tablets and definitely had to go to the hospital. Sigh...

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  3. Hi, I just found your blog after rereading one of Scary Mommy's posts. Glad he's okay! After babysitting and working in daycares for the last ten years, the coughdrop thing is a new one. Seems babysitter should have probably checked in on them a few times, just to be sure that they were actually napping :).

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  4. I've had to call the poison line about five times: Desitin, dust from a dishwasher tab, hand sanitizer, motrin, nail polish remover . . . turns out none of it is that harmful in small quantities. Glad Little Man is okay.

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  5. I made an emergency form that's taped to the inside of my pantry. Poison control is at the top and all other emergency info is listed below. Glad he's OK!

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  6. Oh, that's scary! Glad everything was ok...and glad you got out to see the movie. The last one we saw was, "I now pronouce you Chuck and Larry." Of course, I snuck out with friends to see New Moon, but not with the hubs.
    Happy New Year! And I LOVE the new header!

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  7. oh, absolutely. our beloved tots are crafty little buggers, they can get pretty much into anything they set their mind to ;-)
    Glad the little man is ok!

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  8. lol I have SO been there, about a dozen times, so don't feel bad. With my 6th and 7th children, I pretty much gave up with child locks and such, because they don't work. My kids can get through child proof caps that I can't open, and DO. I do keep the poisons under the sink with a child lock, but so far it hasn't done a lot of good.

    My oldest drank infants tylenol, albuterol, super glued his eye open, and drank windex. The poison control said he would either get sick from the windex or have the flu, because that is what the symptoms look like. And sure enough, he puked a bunch and was fine.
    You would think by child 7 I would have this down, but Sam recently drank a bottle of children's motrin that was in a child proof container. But poison control said there wasn't enough in the bottle to hurt him, thankfully.
    Life is fun when you are a parent!

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  9. I'm really quite impressed you made it this far without calling Poison Control. I mean, seriously. You should be proud!

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  10. So true! Sh*t most definitely happens, no matter how careful or prepared you are. Glad he's okay. And oh, good idea about about keeping the poison control number on the fridge!

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  11. I have it in my phone. Question is, in a panic, would I even remember that I have it in my phone? Also, having it in my phone does a sitter no good whatsoever. So, the fridge! Tonight!

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  12. Excellent advice. I think I will make that improvement to my fridge right now. Glad your little one is OK!

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  13. You absolutely cannot plan for everything or protect them completely! I'm glad he is OK. I ate my mother's birth control pills when I was a toddler!

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  14. After reading the first call to the ER I thought call poison control, so glad I kept reading and you did! I have had to call them a twice in my 9 years of parenting and I ALWAYS feel like an idiot. The first time my toddler got into a bottle of vitamin E pills and ate two. The second my other toddler drank some of the stuff you put on kids who suck thumbs to make them stop. That bottle was super small and there was still some in there she was just screaming in pain from it so it freaked me out. Um yeah that is how that stuff works to get the kids to STOP sucking their thumbs :)

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  15. We just saw Sherlock Holmes this week too. Enjoyed it a lot. Can't wait for Iron Man II. I'm not a big Downey fan.

    As for poison control, we have the number in every medicine cabinet. My hubby works for an insurance company. :)

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  16. Okay, I meant...

    I'm NOW a big Downey fan.

    Sigh...

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  17. After 3.75 years of motherhood, I've called Posion Control all of twice-- once because my then 18 mo son bite the top off of a Crayola Color Wonder marker and the second time, because of an allergic reaction to some fat-free ranch (who woulda thunk, right?) They were very nice about NOT making me feel like a total moron. :-)

    As for taking every precaution... my son's been able to put the top off presecption bottles since he was 2...even the really tough kind that confound and confuse me. There's only so much you can do with a wild racoon with enough gusto and determination. Don't be too hard on yourself, NW!

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  18. seriously...you can't be a step ahead of them allll the time. sigh....glad he was okay though.

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  19. Kids are kids, no matter how much you try to prevent that. Kudos to you for calling the ER and not just rushing there. See? Forethought and planning.

    Also? What the heck is up with saying "don't bring him here, take him to another ER"?!

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  20. The thing is there is no way to live a completely child-proofed life. I don't even want to tell you how many times I've called poison control. If I call one more time, I get a free tote bag. And I really, really feel like I do everything I can to protect her from such things.

    Glad everything turned out okay!

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  21. Hey, in 4 years, you've only had to call Poison Control once? That's awesome. In 4 years of JUST CORINNE, I've called Poison Control AND the Paramedics. She's making up for lost time with the boys...

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  22. I'm thinking less about you having poor mothering skills... these things happen, and more about their doctoring skills that 2 docs couldn't give you an answer over the phone and one recommended you go somewhere else? Glad you called poison control and were able to stay home.
    And glad you enjoyed the movie!

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  23. You know Wild Racoons is a great description of toddlers, in fact I think I would let wild raccoons into my house if I could get a date with my hubby. They would probably be more well behaved. At least they would wash their hands before eating!

    I included you in my Sunday Funnies: http://tinyurl.com/yekgl4e

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  24. You are a great mom! That could have happened to anyone. I never would have thought about keeping cough drops out of kids' reach. Kinda surprised the sitter didn't stop him though, ten is a lot. Happy New Year! ~Susan

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  25. Okay, I'm jealous of the movie outing. The last movie my husband and I saw in the theaters together was (sheesh, so embarrassing to admit this)Castaway. It was released at the end of 2000 and we saw it sometime in the early days of January 2001. On the plus side we did have a mini date night a few months ago, we waited until the little ones were asleep and left the 15 year old in charge and we had a few appetizers and came home. It was short, but well worth it.

    Poison Control has very helpful people. It was an embarrassing story, but I called asking about a cat I had eating my birth control pills. They were very nice, but I could hear them snickering.

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  26. LOVED Sherlock Holmes. I only see 1 movie a year and got blessed with a second chance to see another movie and this was it. I'm glad, it was totally worth it. Glad baby boy is ok after all those cough drops.

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  27. Isn't Poison Control amazing?! I had to call them when my son was about a year old and got a hold of a sample-sized tube of toothpaste (FYI, there's not enough in the entire tube to be harmful, and he only had a bit). I can only imagine how much time and money that number saves people and hospitals.

    Glad your son was ok after all those cough drops!

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