Sorry for not posting for a long time! Click image for larger view.
Image via WikipediaToday everything was moving along fine. The kids had spent the night at Mama and Papa’s house (my parents) which gave mommy and me a nice evening out with kidless friends to have an “adult dinner”. It was very enjoyable! My wife and I were able to sleep in a little longer than normal as well! How nice that was!
Happy Day turns into Stressful Morning
My wife, Cathy, and our two year old daughter, K-bop, were out and about driving around running errands and stopped to pick up additional sales tags for an upcoming children’s sale at a local assisted living community. She had taken 2 packs of dip-able crackers and peanut butter for the kids to snack on. She had already dropped off our son at his daycare, K-bop was staying home because of some “loose poopies”. Anyway, K-bop ate the crackers and most of the PB. By the time they got back out to the SUV, a reddish rash was on K’s lips. My wife just thought it was a minor rash from the PB being on her skin and wiped it off.
Panic Sets In
Even before the car seat belt was strapped on K-bop, the rash had worsened and white bumps were showing up around her lips and the rash spread down her next. This is when Cathy started to panic and called the pediatrician who told her to go get some Benadryl and give it to our daughter and to take her to the ER if she started to have difficulty breathing or wheezing. Yikes! Now my wife calls my cell and I don’t understand her at first, then she clearly says, “K-bop is having an allergic reaction to Peanut Butter!”
We had given her a “taste” of PB last week and all seemed OK. But today was the day her body rejected the peanut butter and “told us” in the most frightening way, by an allergic reaction! I remember telling my wife on the phone to “call 9-1-1″ as I don’ take chances with my kid’s lives, which leads back to my post on “Why Can’t I Relax?”. Also, I am about 25 minutes away from there location so I’m starting to get nervous and freak out as well. My voice on the phone went from calm, to confused, to loud. My coworkers looked at me with a scared look on their faces (I would have done the same) and said, “GO!” I was out the door and back on the cell to get an update from my wife who was trying to drive to a friends house to get the Benadryl. I remember that I said rather loudly, “CALL F’ing 9-1-1!!!”
To my Wife: Sorry for being so loud and upset on the phone Sweetie, but I get so scared when I’m not close to you and the kids and something bad is happening. hope you understand.
She did finally call 9-1-1 and they dispatched an ambulance to our friend’s house. My wife had arrived a few minutes before the paramedics did and our friend had called her neighbor who is a pediatric nurse. I had been calling every 5 minutes for status updates while trying to figure out the quickest way to their house.
By the time I arrived at the house, the ambulance had left, and K-bop was laughing and being her crazy self! that was very reassuring to see after the 25 minute stressful drive!
We are going to be planning to take a Child CPR class to be safe, my wife already moved all “contains nut products” to the top shelf in the pantry, and we have a prescription for an Epi-pen for dire emergencies and let’s HOPE THAT NEVER FREAKIN’ HAPPENS!
If anyone that reads this has a child with a nut allergy I would appreciate a comment on how you have adjusted your food purchases and feeding of yourself and other children. Our 4 year old son LOVEs PB & J and is one of the 3 food he actually eats. Not sure how well handle that but we’ll figure it out.
Oh, maybe you are thinking “why did she have peanut butter?” Well no one in our family, extended as well have a nut allergy. Our pediatrician says, “you can try peanut butter if no family history”. Ok, we did and oops! Won’t do that again.
So I’m heading home now and can’t wait to hug everyone again!
“Autonomy is the independence a toddler strives for from caregivers. Toddlers’ autonomous behavior is a way of forming their own identity away from their caregivers” (Bigner, 2006). This stage is a time where a toddler has the “will” to become independent.
Most parents of toddlers and preschoolers start to experience their child’s attempts at autonomy between their second and third birthdays. At least this is true with our son, Boo. It’s this autonomous actions that make your child out to seem stubborn, frustrating and often times rebellious but in reality they are just learning that they have independence and are an individual. I am having a difficult time dealing with this period in his growth and development. I am looking for a way to better deal with things so I don’t get so anxious, tense and downright grumpy when he’s being defiant. I guess from all that I read he’s just trying to learn to be himself and wants to take most situations into his own hands and deal with them in his methods and ways. Read the rest of this entry »
Ok I think my wife is at her wits end with putting our son to bed at night. Whenever I try to take him up to bed he starts to climb the stairs and then quickly asks for Mommy. I think we have to begin to work on that issue as well! Breaking the routine of just Mommy putting him to bed and then allowing me to help out a few nights a week would do wonders for the sanity of our household!
I found this good source of articles on Helium.com, they have a pretty good section on Parenting and different sub-categories. Here is the link to the article.
Sleep issues unique to toddlers - Toddlers - Helium
This seems to be a good suggestion on how to combat the screaming match between our son and us. Basically the post is saying that the child is desiring to have control, oh yes, I have figured that part out with Boo. But after reading this article I’m going to give this a try and see what happens. Can’t hurt!
Creative discipline that really works - Child Discipline Strategies - Helium
