First Emergency Room Visit

Sunday, April 26, 2009: I was getting ready to meet my friend Graz for brunch at Noon. I was cleaning up the house when I got a call from JP (and his mom who was visiting from Dallas). They went to Home Depot to buy some screws for the kitchen cabinet when his mom noticed that Joseph had something in his mouth. JP tried to pull it out, but he actually pushed the object further down the back of his throat. JP said he then pushed on Joseph’s stomach with his arm and that caused him to throw up and out popped the object: A lock washer. See the picture below.

JP picked up Joseph and the washer and took him to the emergency room. He actually didn’t call me until he was at the ER, but that’s a different story for another day. When I got to the ER, Joseph looked fine and was playing with some books. The nurses called us back to a room and they checked him out. He had an x-ray to make sure he didn’t swallow anything else.

The doctors and nurses were so happy he didn’t swallow the lock washer. Look at that jagged edge! The doctors said if he had swallowed it, then it could have cut his intestines and so on. So scary!

But JP is beating himself up right now. As he was trying to get the washer out of Joseph’s mouth, he actually pushed it further back in his mouth and then down his throat a beat. Ewwww. So parents out there. How do you get your children to spit out things they put into their mouths? The doctor’s seemed happy that JP forced it out but I am not so sure.

P.S. We are signing up for a CPR class next month. This was a huge wake-up call. And something tells me this won’t be out last visit to the ER.

Update: Still No Go Potty

I’ve got nothing to report. He still refuses to go. I am going to try some of the tips everyone recommended and see if they work. I know he will eventually do it so I am not too worried, but I do think it’s time. He’s a pretty smart kid.

Are you Addicted to Facebook?

The Washington Post’s “On Parenting” blog yesterday featured a guest blogger, Leah Ariniello, who wrote about how much she loves Facebook because as a freelance journalist and a mother of two, it helps her stay connected with friends and family via status updates, posting new pictures, joining virtual groups and networks. But The Post also links to a couple of other stories about people who have a Facebook addiction. These are pretty serious stories. I didn’t realize that people were actually addicted to Facebook.

When I started using Facebook about two years ago, I admit, I was hooked. I also secretly loved checking in on old friends, reading about their lives, and looking at family pictures. But here recently, my attitude’s changed about how of my own life I post on to Facebook. As I began creating this blog for my class, I became very afraid to post personal stuff on here, such as family names, pictures, stories, etc. And no, I didn’t think of this when I decided to start a blog about raising my son. It never occurred to me that I might not want to post personal stories about me and my family for millions of people to read. It wasn’t until I created my ads on my site and for search engines that I realized that I am losing some of my privacy. And it scared me.

When I told my JP about my issue, he responded with, “But you post this kind of stuff on Facebook all the time.”

You know, he is right. Why am I not afraid to post anything and everything for more than 200 friends to read? Yes, it’s true that I can set my privacy settings to “just friends” but is that enough? Has anyone out there figured out how hide your Facebook profile from search engines? When I google my name, my Facebook profile appears.

I would like to know what others think about this. Do you worry about your family’s privacy on the Internet? Why or Why not? I’ll admit, I am a bit crazy about things sometimes so I would like to know what other people out there think.

Daddy Do It!

“I hope it’s just a phase.” I repeat this statement over and over to myself all day long. The reason? Joseph doesn’t let me do anything for him anymore; he only wants his daddy to do it. It is just a phase? Should I insist on doing things like get him dressed when he is screaming for someone else? What should I do?

No Go Potty!

Oh, the joys of potty training. I will be the first to admit: I haven’t taken this whole process very seriously. I guess I thought it would be fairly easy. I never remember my niece refusing to go to the potty. So I thought I’d buy a really cool potty and just let nature do its thing. At this rate, we will be buying pull-ups until he’s 10 years old.

So all parents out there, please give me some tips. I’ve tried a few incentives such as mini M&Ms and I thought about hanging up a sticker reward chart. But are there any other things you’ve tried that have worked. If so, I would love to hear them.

I am officially ready for the challenge now and will report back on our progress. Wish us luck!