My room was dark. I was awakened by CandyMan, my husband, calling my name. I was vaguely aware that he had gotten out of bed earlier to go running. I was happy to stay in bed and sleep for a few extra….precious….minutes. My bed was warm and the house was cold. The kids would still be in bed for a while longer, and since everyone was on antibiotics for strep (yes, everyone!) I figured they needed the extra sleep.
It took me a few long seconds for my brain to compute that he was calling me. That his voice sounded urgent. I’d better respond.
I ran downstairs, still in a haze, and found him in the kitchen with AJ, our youngest son. He was holding one of the bottles of Amoxicillan from the fridge, and still it didn’t compute. It was early.
“How much was left in this bottle?” he asked.
It was only the 2nd day of antibiotics. The bottle was nearly full of the 10-day, 3-doses-a-day pink stuff. AJ was the child that didn’t have to be forced to take his medicine. He liked the pink stuff.
Too much, apparently.
When I realized that 3 year old AJ had crept into the kitchen while everyone was sleeping, opened the refrigerator, reached up onto the top door shelf, outsmarted the child-proof cap, and chugged the entire grown-child-10-day-supply of antibiotics, I woke up. My mind was finally clear and I started to think.
Call the doctor.
Time to take him to the ER.
But who goes? Someone has to stay behind with the other four, sleeping kids.
I stayed behind. It was horrible to watch them leave. I was confident that amoxicillan was one of the “better” drugs to overdose on. But how much can a 3 year old handle? And what was going to happen at the hospital?
So many questions.
Finally, an email. Thank goodness for camera phones and Facebook apps. My little boy, all covered in charcoal, inside and out, was ok. He was happily sucking on a popsicle, oblivious to the stress that he’d put his poor parents through.
What a way to wake up.
Before:
First drink of charcoal:
After a full cup of charcoal (not the easiest stuff to get down a child’s throat):
Glad it wasn’t my bed…..
Popsicles make everything better (except for Mommy’s nerves):
Apparently, AJ’s fever and trip to the doctor has me thinking medical. This was the first story that came to my mind when I read MamKat’s writing prompt, “This one time I was sleeping and…” This happened a while ago….
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Ahhh! Why do they make that stuff taste so good!!??
(visiting from mama kats)
Sadly I know all to well about this. Only it was I who downed the pink stuff.
Definitely a heart-attack-inducer for the parents.
Oh my goodness…that is super duper scary. I can’t even imagine.
my kids BEG for the pink stuff! I keep it on a high shelf just for that very reason!
Oh we had a medicine kid too. Thank goodness he didnt’ like it as much as your son does apparently! YIKES! How scary.
So what’s the deal with the charcoal? Is it supposed to be ingested or is it to try to bring the medicine back up?
That is some scary stuff! Glad it all worked out ok… :)
How frightening! I would not have been able to stay at home! Although, my husband is way better in a crisis…
Not a fun morning adventure at all!
Ugh! As the mother of a 2 yo boy that I can’t take my eyes off for a second (how different he is from my daughter!), this is one of the things that I have nightmares about. Thank goodness your little guy was okay!
I am stopping by from Mama Kat’s linky. Glad to have found you!
I know! I just never figured out where would be safe, if the fridge + a child proof cap was NOT safe!
That is scary! I am glad he is okay!
That would have scared the crap out of me too! Holy cow! Ok but still how cute is he? Even all messy and charcoaled!
How scary! How can kids be so stressfull yet so cute at the same time!!!
My 5 year old is crazy about medicine. She asks for it all the time. (Heaven help me when she gets older.) I have to keep it where she can’t even see it or I’m afraid something similar will happen to her. So thankful it turned out okay – you must have been terrified.
Yikes!So scary! Glad he’s okay! We’ve had calls to poison control before (I now have the sticker on the backs of my phones), but have never had to go to the ER, thank God! Makes me think twice about child proof caps being child proof!
Well I will gladly take my 2 year old eating a tube of toothpaste over that experience (some milk and toast was all he needed fortunately!!) What a traumatic experience!!
This gave me the chills. So, so scary. I’m glad he was OK.
Oh my goodness!!! I cannot beleive that. How horrible. I an so glad it all turned out okay.
As you were leaving this comment, I was adding that little detail. Yes, he outsmarted the child proof cap, too. So much for being safe…
Poor fella! So glad he’s ok! I’ve had to take the charcoal. It’s pretty yucky.
Oh my goodness, what a story. Did he open the childproof cap? I’m so glad he is ok. How scary.
Oh my gosh! how scary!!!
My 3 yo loves to take medicine too. I have to be very very careful about where it is and how much he knows!