I’m in Des Moines for a few days while Ralph and Blair enjoy some time away from active parenting and can actually have an adult conversation, sleep late and watch the “Today” show uninterrupted!
Julia was at school most of the day and Ralph had already paid for Lydia to be at Miss Vickie’s since it’s one of Ralph’s regular days to work for Blair so I had plenty of free time. I roamed the mall for about an hour this morning and left wondering who in the world wants to buy the crap they are selling. Obviously I’m not their target market nor was I inspired to purchase anything other than a cup of coffee at Starbucks!
The main agenda item was joining Julia for lunch at school – an experience I hadn’t had for many a year! I had ordered the adult chef salad and it was quite tasty although more than I could eat of iceberg lettuce. I’m not sure if Julia was being shy or was uncertain if she really wanted me there but she was a bit subdued throughout her 20-minute lunch period.
I had a little time this afternoon before picking up the girls so I took advantage of Ralph’s gym and got in some cardio. While on the elliptical machine I was pondering a blog entry and thinking that a recap of the day in the life of Grammie-turned-soccer-mom was not going to be too exciting and you’re probably reading this and thinking “she’s right – so why is she still writing and why am I still reading?”
Well we did get in the soccer practice early this evening as the rains cleared temporarily although the brisk northerly wind kept Lydia and me in the car reading books and coloring.
We got home a little after 7 and I suggested that the girls get in their pajamas and I’d pop in a video for them to watch before bed thinking it would be an opportune time for me to take a shower, get in my sweats and curl up with a good book as soon as Mr. Sandman visited them.
And then I heard Lydia crying – make that sobbing. I finally managed to figure out she was telling me that she had put a bead in her left nostril and then lodged it in even further while trying to get it out. Oops! That’s one scenario my daughters never presented for me so my first suggestion was to try to get her to blow her nose but when you’re not quite 4, that’s not an easy task to perform.
So I had to resort to Plan B which was to call Ralph. I hated to call and spoil her vacation but the RN in her quickly kicked in and within 5 minutes she called to give me directions to the office of an ENT friend who agreed to meet us and solve our dilemma.
I manged to get the girls in the car and Lydia finally quit crying once she had Care Bear in her arms and knew we were headed for help. At least she quit crying temporarily until Julia (who was quite scared for her sister) started asking questions! “Do you think Corey (the ENT) will hurt her? Will there be a lot of blood? What if the bead went into her head and is now in her brain? Will they have to cut it out?” Great thinking, Julia, just not great timing!
Corey had just pulled into the parking lot when we got to his office and he got Julia settled with a video and took us back to an exam room. He’s obviously a pro at this stuff because his first order of business was to give Lydia a sucker which immediately distracted from the reason for our visit. Once he located the bead and was gloved, it took all of about 1.5 seconds to extract that little goodie and she was all smiles again. He even put it in a little cup for her to bring home so Ralph and Blair can see it!
Within an hour of my first call to Ralph, we were home! Lydia now tells me Care Bear is going to be a doctor like Mari’s dad and take beads out of noses and give out suckers. We also discussed that the smallest thing to put in a nose is your elbow!
The house is quiet and I’m now ready for that hot shower, my sweats, a good book and a beer. In fact, Nurse Ralph suggested the beer and when I located some Goose Island Summertime Ale, I knew I had to follow her medical advice.
Cheers!
They are lucky to have you for a grammie.
This is so funny because I had almost the same thing happen to me when I was that age except it was a dry bean and not a bead. My Mom ended up taking me to my grandmothers’s house and she was able to get it out. I remember how scard I was that I was going to have to live the rest of my life with a bean up my nose!
Robin, that would have made you a genuine human bean!