Seven Quick Takes--What my kids have put in their heads

What would you put in your head?

1. Guzzled Body Oil: When G was one I used to use essential oils mixed with jojoba oil as a skin moisturizer. I stored it in a 1 ounce container with a tip just right for sucking on. One afternoon M caught her in the bathroom chugging this oil mixture. When we called poison control they said she would be fine, but to give her milk and watch for orange poop. The people at poison control are really helpful and friendly.

2. Swallowed Floss: When an adult who shall not be named as visiting us, two year old G was playing with a container of floss. She managed to get a 14" piece off and swallow it. The nurse said she should be fine. On the plus side she had really minty breath.

3. Peas in the nose: L has a fascination with sticking things in her facial orifices. The first time it was peas. She was 18 months old and bored at dinner. We tried to get them out ourselves and when we could not, I took her into her doctors after hours urgent care. He got it right out, and found it fairly amusing. The best part about this one was that it was billed as "surgery."

4. Hair ties in a different nose: G as our oldest child is really good at imitating behavior of others, even her younger sister. One day when she as three, while in time out, she decided to shove one of those little plastic hair-ties up her nose. M had the car at school, and had to come home and bring her to the doctor. By the time we got her there, it had gone all the way back and she had swallowed it.

5. Eating Chapstick: G is very oral; that is the nice way to say it. One day during her "naptime" she got ahold of some flavored lipgloss and ate most of a melon flavored one. Poison control was helpful here as well. I just figured it is so easy to call them, and they can find all the info I need.

6. Coloring inside Ears: L at age two put a colored pencil in her ear and the tip broke off; I did not notice it for days when we noticed blue coming out of her ear after a bath. She has really waxy ears so it was not really bothering her. They got it out with the ear sprayer technique almost immediately. Every since then she likes to pretend to spray water into her and if I am not careful she will try to stick long thin objects down her ears.

7. Foam stickers: L and G were using these cool Easter and spring foam stickers when L complained to me that one was in her nose. So, of course G puts one in her nose, also. I got G to blow her's out almost immediately and decided to try to perform my own "surgery" on L to avoid a doctors visit. M arrived home from work as I was laying her under a light. He thought maybe she could blow it out like G did. Instead of prying around in her nose, I held one nostril shut and had her blow (while sobbing) for five minutes and it finally came out! I feel like I have achieved another level of parenting when I don't need the doctor to get foreign objects out of my kids noses...

I suppose I am lucky that there are only seven incidents to report here, but we have only been parents for four years, so I expect many more.

Quick Takes are hosted by Grace at Camp Patton this week. Please say a prayer for Jen and her new baby boy in the NICU.