It started out to be just another ordinary day. I was doing laundry, my daughter was napping in her crib and my husband was mowing the lawn while my son was playing in the backyard. However, this turned out to be much more than an ordinary day…
I was inside the house cleaning up (as usual) when I heard the lawn mower shut off. My husband yelled to me inside. “Is he with you?”
I ran out onto the deck. “What?”
He repeated, “Is he with you?”
I had a pit in the bottom of my stomach. I knew the answer to this and it was no. He was supposed to be playing in the backyard while my husband was in the backyard mowing, just likes he’s done a million other times. Clearly, he was missing. Without any other exchange, my husband ran through the yard and I ran through the house to the front as we were both screaming his name.
I opened the front door and saw a school bus dropping off the neighborhood kids. I looked in every direction and I had the horrific feeling like I could see everyone else’s kid, but couldn’t find my own.
Where was he? Was he hurt? Was he taken? Was he safe? I had a vision of myself on Dateline explaining to Ann Curry that we never thought this could happen to us…
And then my husband saw him walking from our neighbor’s house. We immediately hugged him and asked him if he was alright.
But, things were not alright…
You see, my son was holding an ice-cream cone that he got from our neighbor’s house and it was full of NUTS. For those of you who do not know, our son has a severe peanut allergy and he will go into anaphylactic shock if he ingests a nut. We immediately began to ask him if he ate any of the nuts. From the onset, it looked like he hadn’t, but we didn’t know for sure.
“I don’t know mommy. I think I just licked it, but I don’t know.”
His lips began to blow up and hives began to appear around his mouth. Even if he didn’t ingest one of those nuts, he obviously placed the cone to his lips.
Frantically, I grabbed the Benadryl and my husband grabbed the EpiPen…
Through these intense minutes and all of the drama, there is a happy ending. My son responded well to the meds and we never had to call 911. BUT, if he had eaten one of those nuts, there is no QUESTION in my mind that he would have been in the hospital fighting for his life.
Moral of the story Theta Moms?
Never let your husband watch your child when he mows the lawn… Never assume that your child cannot open the “near impossible” gate from the back yard to the front… Never think that your child isn’t shy enough to ring your neighbor’s doorbell and ask for an ice-cream cone…Never forget to remind your child (that has a food allergy) of the things he/she cannot eat…And never forget to let your neighbors know about your child’s allergy. It could save a life.
I never said I was a perfect mother. In fact, I pride myself on being true and authentic, which in essence is what I stand for as a Theta Mom. I make mistakes, I learn from them and I strive to be a better parent throughout the process.
Wow that's scary. I am glad it turned out ok.
And a side note, once when I was mowing the lawn I told my daughter to stand by the back door to be out of the way of the mower and any flying objects…well a rock flew out of the mower and hit the door inches from her head. You can't be too far from a lawn mower..As you said don't let dad watch while mowing… I agree for more reasons than one.
xxx
Oh my gosh! I'm so glad that he is ok and that he didn't eat any of those nuts!!!
Oh man, that is awful. I hope you all recover from this ordeal. I remember you mentioned you have never had to use the epi pen.
Glad to hear is okay.
So scary! I can't even imagine.
Thanks for the award.
How frightening! I can just imagine all of the emotions that you must have gone through… from fear that he was lost to fear that he had in fact eaten one of the nuts!! So glad to hear he is ok.
oh my, so happy everything worked out okay. I know that sick to your stomach feeling, not fun.
Very scary. Maybe you could get one of those silver bracelets with the allergies on it. On second thought, he wouldn't wear it. I guess you found out the hard way about the nut allergy at some point. Mine have tree, grass, cat allergies and have ended up in the hospital with asthma problems. Thanks for stopping by and following. I will be back later!
Oh my goodness! Thank heaven he responded to the meds and didn't have to make a trip to the ER.
Thank God that all turned out ok …. He must have had the Angels watching over your son.
Oh my dear, as soon as I saw that cone I was like hey wait I thought she said her child was allergic?!? Whew thank God it wasn't worse. Holding my baby extra close tonight.
You must have been so frightened on so many different levels.
Not that he would probably wear it at home anyways, but in Australia they have this whole range of kids clothing with slogans like, "Stop. Food allergies. Please don't feed me," and "No nuts for me." Could be useful for parties and playdates?
Christie
http://childhood101.blogspot.com/
Wow, that was scary. One of my nephews has a nut allergy and he's now learned to ask first whenever he's offered anything whether or not it has nuts… but then sometimes that's not enough, because the offered food might not have nuts on it, but it might not have been processed in a "peanut-free" place.
Glad to hear that he's alright.
Whew! I would have needed a few drinks after that too! Glad he's OK.
Oh my goodness. That is so scary. I'm glad that he's ok and made it through without a trip to the emergency room. High Five for mom making it through as well.
So scary……I'm so glad you had a happy ending. I am definitely the kind of mom who trusts my kids and the world a little too much. This is a great reminder to be more careful. We are not perfect but we can be more vigilent. Thanks for a great post Theta Mom!
http://thepranamama.com
OMG! OMG! OMG! I am so happy to hear that everything is ok!! That is a very scary situation and thank goodness he didn't eat the ice cream:) Oh! and thank goodness you had some beer on hand to calm your nerves!!!
How scary! I really glad it all turned out ok.
Oh terrifying…So glad all is well. What a nightmare. You bring up a couple of very good points. I always forget how severe a peanut allergy can be.
Forget the beers…I'd be chugging the vodka!
Well I am so glad that he is okay. I can't imagine if Eva had a peanut allergy like that, I think it would make me insane since almost everything has nuts in it.
As far as losing your son for a couple of minutes….it really could happen to any of us so don't beat yourself up about it.
OMG! Even thought everything turned out ok i am still sitting here, horrified for you! WHAT A SCARE!
First he is missing, my BIGGEST fear, then he is licking nuts! (sounds naughty, i know)
What a day you had! I would have done shots of tequila instead of beer to calm me down…
Glad everything is ok now!
ps. thanks for adding me to your blogroll!
Glad that everything turned out just fine. How scary…
Oh my gosh… I can't imagine the fear! Okay, I can totally imagine the fear and OMG… I'd be freaking out… first with the possibility that you lost your son… how scary that must have been! You know, you turn your head for one second, and they disappear! It is scary!
But with that ice cream cone that contained nuts… my goodness… I'm so glad it turned out okay and that he didn't eat any of the nuts. Yeah, you should remind your neighbours about this and make sure they tell their children, too. Super scary… I'm so sorry!
that is super scary! I am glad you both were able to nip it before it got really bad.
Very glad you came through that ordeal easily. However, you probably live in fear of protecting your child.
I want to share something I saw on the news that I thought was absolutely ingenious!
A mother decided to have (2) Tattoos put on her little girl. One was on her arm and another on her right hand. It was a picture of a peanut (like the dancing one on the Planters can) with a red circle around it and a red line drawn through it. And it said No Peanuts!
Forgetting the fact that I don't like tattoos…this is something that will be with your child throughout life and I think that getting the tattoos is an amazing idea! – Just wanted to share.
Take Care and Good Luck!
TR Hughes
heather.. i was panicked for you.. I am so glad hes okay..thank god..my adrenaline is pumping from the story..all i can say is thank god it all came out okay
I'm so glad it turned out okay and you didn't have to call 911, but if it was me, I'd have to call 911 for ME cuz I would have had a heart attack!
OMG! I'm glad to hear everything is OK! It's really scary!
My neighbor's daughter has a nut allergy. I didn't know that. I'm glad I asked if she had any allergies before I gave her a cookie with nuts.
Your post is a great reminder. Thanks for sharing!
Hope the rest of your day goes well.
omg i am soo glad he's alright….i totally feel you on letting the neighbors know….my honey thinks i'm crazy when i leave anyone who is watching our daughter (family only)specific instructions on how to deal with her, how she is, and so on and so forth….but it's for reasons like that right there….people need to be aware….
thanks for sharing….
How scary was that. It is amazing how good we think we get at being moms and how confident and comfortable we are. But then life gives us little "tests" that slaps us across the face,knocks us on our a**, and reminds us to be humble. It is what we do after the "tests" that make us great moms. Which sounds like you, my dear!
Oh my Mommy – that is so scary!! My kids are still too young to even know if they have those kind of allergies…oh I'm a nervous wreck about that one.
Glad your little guy is OK…and you, hope you had that drink!
Thanks for stopping by my blog and for your sweet comment…the Jersey Shore will always be my HOME too
Oh wow!! How scary!! I'm so glad all ended well. So true that it could have ended up much differently…and good advice.
And only a couple of beers?? Girl…you restrained yourself. I think I would have grabbed for a bottle of liquor!
How scary! So glad he was ok…made my heart race reading it…I cant even imagine the fear you must have had
Oh my dear friend! I'm so glad this turned out all right!
Hugs to all of you:)
Oh wow how scary for you! I can't imagine how scary it must be. Thank goodness you and your husband responded quickly. It makes me want to ban all nuts. We don't need them anyway – let's just get rid of them!
So glad he is ok! I've never known anyone personally with a peanut allergy but I've heard horror stories and pray we never have to deal with it. I would have def. eaten the Blue Bunny though since it is my favorite:-)
Oh my goodness. How terrifying for you! From the moment you can't find him, to the moment you realized he may have eaten nuts, to the moment that he starts reacting. I think I may have been reaching for something a little stronger than a couple of beers.
That is so terrifying! I'm so glad he didn't really eat any of it. I hope that is the last episode he has!
How scary! I'm so glad everything turned out okay.
Oh wow! I am so sorry that happened but so relieved it is okay. You know I just posted on how we are not perfect and how things can happen and I think telling him to tell people his allergy right away is a good idea and I think letting neighbors and his classmates know when he goes to pre-school and school is great too. It is SUCH a scary allergy. Yay for happy endings!
OMGosh my dear, how scary! My heart was racing for you. I'm so glad it turned out ok, but wow what an experience.
Oh men and watching the kids, makes you wonder how anything gets done … LOL
As for being perfect if anyone has anything mean to say they don't have kids. Being a mom is a hard job and we're all learning as we go. Until that parenting guide comes with a baby we'll just to have to keep learning and growing :).
Stop by anytime for recipes, all are easy and quick. My moto
Wow, that's scary! So glad that he was ok!!
Thank God for happy endings!
Smooches,
Sassy Chica
Wow! How scary. I'm so so glad he's ok.
Oh my goodness..I'm glad your son ended up being okay. I can't even imagine how scary that feels like. There's another blog I read who's son has a peanut allergy. Her fears are the same as yours.
I am glad you had a happy ending!
About a month ago our neighbors 2 1/2 year old went missing. We live on the channel of a river, so of course everyone went to the water first.
His grandparents live about three blocks from us, so my daughter and I headed in that direction – there he was, at his grandparents back fence trying to get in!
He had walked in his bare feet and pulling a wagon!
The Mom thought he was with Dad and Dad thought he was Mom!
that is so scary but i am so glad everything worked out alright.
What a frightening experience. Thank goodness you realised in time and he didn't have a reaction at the neighbour's house.
I think children are an amalgamation of escape artists, magicians (disappearing) and gymnasts (scaling things they really shouldn't be able to do).
Thank God you saw him in time, and thank God it all worked out. That must have been so frightening. Phew, the scares we go through on their behalf. Glad little man is ok. I'm sure he'll never forget it.
OMG, tears welled up in my eyes and I wanted to reach through this computer and hug you! I'm sorry it was such a rough afternoon. I am sure the what-ifs continued forever! So scary these little ones are.