Monday, March 03, 2008

Disaster, minor

I was going to blog on Sunday about the dinner I made on Saturday night. But, right before I went to take the souffles out of the oven, I went to check on Z who had gone to find a necklace in my nightstand drawers. Instead of a necklace, she found a bottle of benadryl. The lid was on, just not very tightly. I found it underneath the pile of pink pills. I asked her if she ate any, she said yes. I said how many, she said two. I had to believe her even though she was saying yes as if I wanted her to say yes. What I really wanted was for her to say no but I didn't want to lead the witness. Two seems plausible. And two too many. So we tell our guests to make themselves at home, to pull the souffles out, to slice the ricotta tart, to add the lemon juice to the lentils and we drive over to the ER. We know where it is. (3 blocks away). We've been there before.
The nurses are pretty calm. No charcoal. No stomach pumping. They just watch her for a minute. Benadryl isn't particularly toxic, we learn. Still, two hours of monitors and lots of stickers on her chest to make sure her heart rate doesn't spike is a long time for a 2.5 year-old. Fortunately we had my cell phone and there's a Tetris-like game on it (who knew?) that now she and Erik are addicted to. We were let go with not too much shame or admonishment. I apologized to Erik and Z for my Benadryl addiction and for my wrists which are apparently too weak to twist a cap all the way to lock.

We got home. The guests had eaten the souffles, the tart, and figured out to put the leeks with the lentils. They also saved us some food and cleaned up the dishes. The best part was that they were still here when we got back. Usually when we go to the ER, no one knows where we are. This time, people were waiting to hear and then willing to hang out longer just so the whole night wasn't a total disaster.

In the end, we think Z took none of the Benadryl. She stayed up until 11 and woke up by 7 the next day.

6 comments:

Dr Write said...

A happy ending! I love a happy ending!! So it wasn't a tragedy. And I want to hear about the lentils. They sound delicious!

Anonymous said...

Whew. One of my friends just found out that her little baby has infant glaucoma (serious, requiring surgery), and Kavi was vomiting a lot Saturday night (but is fine now), and it just seemed the week for sick babies and I am so glad yours is okay and probably was never sick at all.

Nik said...

It sucks being the bad mom. But I can take it. For a minute. Maybe a week. And then someone else has to take the crown.
MM--it's true--these small creatures are full of dramatics. I hope the surgery is quick and successful for your friend's little baby.

Lisa B. said...

Yes, it is a good ending and I'm happy that Z is just an agreeable child. One time we had to take my middle daughter to the ER because she swallowed a penny trying to entertain her younger sister. (What, was I supposed to police the house for pennies because someone might swallow one trying to entertain her younger sister? That's not fair!) I think of this because we, too, were making dinner for friends and had to rush off like thieves or anxious parents into the night. Anyway, when the dr. came in, he said, "Who's the kid who thinks she's a piggy bank?" A line that makes me chuckle to this day. Think of everything you have ahead of you! Bon courage, my dear.

Molly said...

The whole dinner was delicious. The only ingredient missing was the sweet conversation of Z, the night's queen of drama. It was fun. I'd have dinner at your house with or without you and Erik any old time. Your house and your food are just that lovely.

Valerie said...

that little devil. they should make them green... no kids like green.