The Toothpick Incident

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it on the blog yet, but I have taken a (very) part time job at the boys' preschool this year. I will be teaching a three day a week half day preschool class. C is actually in my class, and P is scheduled to be at school from 9:00 to 1:00 every day this year, so I won't have to miss time with the boys that I wasn't already scheduled to miss, but it will allow me to get my "teaching fix" in a Christian environment, which I am very excited about, and as an added bonus gives me a discount on preschool tuition. So... two weeks ago today I was at work having an inservice and getting my room ready. Daddy A was helping me change bulletin board paper and reach high things and whatnot, and we got a call from Chelsea, who was babysitting.

Chelsea said she was very sorry to bother us, but P had a toothpick stuck in his knee and she couldn't get it out. Daddy A headed home to remedy the situation, and within three minutes my phone was ringing. He couldn't get the toothpick out either, so I headed home. After looking things over, we decided to take P to the ER... this happened minutes before 5:00PM, and it was now just after 5:00PM, so the doctor's office was closed. Chelsea agreed to stay with C and we were off.

We texted a picture of P's knee to an ER doctor who attends our church and is a good friend.


Unfortunately, he wasn't on duty, but the doctor who did treat us was very nice and did a great job. P had calmed down once no one was pulling on the toothpick, and as we waited for the doctor P asked Daddy A to take another picture of his knee.

While we waited for the doctor, the story about the toothpick began to unfold. We knew from Chelsea that the boys were playing trains downstairs and P tripped over the edge of his train table and fell onto his knees, landing on a blue pillow that usually resides on our couch but had fallen to the floor. While we were talking, I asked Daddy A where the toothpick would have come from. P piped up and said, "Gracias" (our favorite local Mexican restaurant). I pointed out that we had eaten there two days before and that didn't explain a toothpick being downstairs, and P piped up again. "I taked a toothpick from there and Daddy sayed I needed to throw it in the trash and I knowed he sayed that because toothpicks are dangerous. But I wanted to keep the toothpick so I pushed it down into the pillow downstairs because pillows are soft and I knowed if I putted it in a pillow I could keep it and it would be soft and it wouldn't hurt anybody... oh and I putted two in there and so I need you to find the other one and GET IT OUT 'CAUSE I DON'T LIKE TOOTHPICKS ANYMORE 'CAUSE I AM SCARED OF THEM!"

I have to give my boy some props... he applied logic. It just didn't work out so well for him.

The doctor came by, decided to x-ray P's knee, and put some topical numbing gel on his knee. P waited and remained pretty calm.

The pharmacist came by and brought stickers. She asked P if he was allergic to any medicine and he said he wasn't. Then he amended, "Wait - I am allergic to shot medicine."

We waited some more for the gel to kick in, and the ER doctor returned. He was unable to remove the toothpick, so he had to numb the knee a lot more with multiple shots. P was very upset and cried that he had said he didn't want any shots, but he did not try to stop them from giving him the shots. They brought in two nurses in case he needed to be restrained, but P took the phrase "man up" to a whole new level. Once his knee was good and numb, the doctor widened the puncture wound just a bit with a scalpel and then he was able to extract the toothpick.

P wanted another picture.

We told P he could choose whatever he wanted for dinner, and he asked for "Chick-a-lay," so we headed over there for some nuggets.

P proudly wore one of his new stickers.

I think Chelsea was more scarred by the whole event than P was... she did exactly what I would have done in that situation, though, and handled everything so well! She gently tried to get the toothpick out of P's knee, and when she couldn't she carried him upstairs and gave him a popsicle. Then she tried one more time once he was calm. When that didn't work she called Daddy A. She stayed calm and watched C while we took care of P, and I was so grateful for her help! (She also happens to be Colby's sister, and Colby rushed over with a Happy Napper for P when he heard the news. P's "bes' friend" arrived with the gift shortly after we returned from dinner. I think that sped up P's recovery!)

The next morning, P went to meet his teachers and told them all about his adventure. He even asked me to bring the pictures on my phone to help him tell his story. We did get rid of the second toothpick in the couch pillow, but I am slightly concerned since P's fear of toothpicks seems to have been short lived!