Toxic Scare

My heart is still not beating quite right. I am having what I would describe as palpitations. Tonight we had a toxic scare in our home. Anyone who knows our family, even just slightly, could guess that this story involves our youngest child, Ella.

With the addition of Ella to our household, Ray and I learned to be more relaxed parents. We no longer get excited over little scraps and bruises. We don't jump out of our seats when someone starts crying. We respond much more slowly to crashes in other rooms, even when it sounds like the house is falling down. With Ella around, something out of the ordinary is always taking place. She just continues to do surprising things, so we have become immune to the art of surprise.

The day seemed to be going well. Nothing too out of the ordinary had taken place. We had a busy day. First we had soccer games, then a birthday party, stopped by the store to get a few necessities for the week, then off to a church youth event. We returned home late and it was time to put the girls in bed. I was looking forward to finally getting time to sit down and relax. I had Ella all tucked into bed and was reading her a book in her dimly lit room. I was all wrapped up in one of my favorite books, Goodnight Moon, when I was suddenly horrified to look over at my daughter's face and see it was glowing PURPLE! "OH MY GOD!" I screamed.

Here is where I have to back up and fill you in on a few details. Seems when we left the birthday party this afternoon, Ella received a goody bag from her friend. It contained one of those plastic necklaces that you snap and then it glows in the dark. Well, it was dark when we were leaving the church after the youth event. Ella seized a great opportunity and put the necklace on. She was still wearing it when she went to bed.

Now, just for the record, I did give some thought as to whether or not this was acceptable. Originally, my thinking was this was not a dangerous toy and it might be fun to play with until she fell off to sleep Also, just for the record, my husband disagrees and feels I never should have allowed her to take this toy to bed. She should not have had anything around her neck. On hind sight, I have to agree.

Apparently, while I was engrossed in the book, my favorite five year old put the innocent toy in her mouth and BIT IT! The sight of her mouth glowing and the fluid running down her throat TOTALLY FREAKED ME OUT! I literally grabbed her in my arms (all 47.5 lbs of her) and jumped from the top bunk where we were laying side by side. We rushed to the bathroom with me yelling, "SPIT IT OUT! SPIT IT OUT!" I quickly drew her a glass of water. Of course, my complete over reaction sent Ella into hysterics. So did the sight of the glowing purple fluid all over the sink when she did finally spit the water out.

I yelled for Ray who was downstairs watching the Penn State/Notre Dame game. I guess he heard the fear in my voice, because he did jump right up from his seat and come running......while the game was in action!!! I am telling you, this was serious. While I cleaned the chemicals from Ella's mouth, I explained to Ray that I had no idea what these chemicals were. He was able to swiftly locate the necklace wrapper and to my delight read the words, "non-toxic!" There would be no trip to the emergency room tonight. We shared some laughs while cleaning out thte sink. Turning out the light to look for more glowing spots and then cleaning the sink some more.

Upon returning to the scene of the accident, we found Ella's top sheets to be glowing in many spots. It reminded me of when forensic investigators use the black lights to detect blood splatter in murder investigations. I thought it was really cool. Ella found it to be a little frightening. She was not willing to sleep in those sheets. I couldn't blame her. We removed her bedding and I was putting new ones on, when Marley, the best big sister in the world, offered to let Ella sleep with her. I tucked them both in. We read a chapter of Marley's book and everyone seemed fine. I went on downstairs, but haven't really been able to relax. Remember, I am still having heart palpitations.

On hind sight, I know that this type of toy has to be safe or it wouldn't be so popular. I mean, they hand these things out at the schools at Halloween time for safety. With all the crap in the news about Made in China products, it just sent a wave of fear through me. I am certain she will survive this dramatic event. It's not like she hasn't survived greater dangers in her days.

Life is always interesting around here. However, I do think this has been our first head glowing /mind blowing experience. I just hope this child doesn't give me a heart attack!