A Magical Week

Maybe you noticed I haven't posted in a while? To be honest I didn't really have much to report last week. Vacation was over and we were doing our best to get back into the routine of life. I returned to my regular work schedule and we were preparing for Emma Kate's first day of 1st grade on Friday. We bought school supplies last Tuesday. I almost took some pictures of her crayons and glue but then I got a grip and realized that would be a pretty pitiful post. Seriously, I don't even think the grandparents would get too excited about that post. So, the week went on with little excitement. Until Thursday afternoon.

I walked in to Emma Kate's classroom at daycare Thursday afternoon to pick her up. She spottted me and got a huge grin on her face. Oh, that smile melts my heart. My favorite part of the day is when I pick the kids up from daycare. She ran over to me and gave me a big hug. My angel. Then with all innocence in her voice she announces that she has a rock in her ear! She is clearly proud of this news and is eagerly waiting for me to join in her enthusiasm. It truly takes me a minute to comprehend what she just said because Emma Kate is a SMART girl and what she just said sounds completely ridiculous.

I ask her, "You have a rock in your ear?" She could immediately sense my concern and her face dropped. I asked why she had a rock in her ear. Apparently, she and some other girls were doing magic tricks and just moments before I walked through the door she decided to make a tiny pebble disappear in her ear. She got the disappearing part, but the reappearing was a little trickier.

Let's just say the evening quickly went down hill from there. Emma Kate began freaking out when I tried to explain the seriousness of the situation. I couldn't get the rock out myself so we had to go to the ER. (I wish I had EK's reaction to this on video. She was literally flipping out.) I could tell the rock was very deep and was afraid I had made it worse my trying to get it out myself. But I told myself that kids do this kind of stuff all the time and it would be no big deal.

Well, the ER doc was clearly not very comfortable digging around in Emma Kate's ear. He continued to repeat that the rock was "very, very deep". Yeah, thanks doc. He made a couple of unsuccessful attempts and then called the ENT on call. This genius deemed the rock lodged in my daughter's ear NOT AN EMERGENCY and advised us to follow up in the morning. Needless to say, I was not happy with this assessment. I am of the opinion that a rock in my kid's ear is an emergency and would like SOMEONE to get it out.

Well, after I cried a little bit and tried to decide if I was going to pitch a fit, I concluded that maybe it wasn't a medical emergency even if it was a mommy emergency. So we went to eat some mexican food and went home.

Now, remember the next morning was Emma Kate's first day of 1st grade. She walked into school like a champ and only let me take one picture of her before she announced that was "enough".

Enough?

(Emma Kate and her rock stuck in that pretty left ear of hers.)

I might have been more weepy about my baby's first day of school if I weren't so preoccupied with the rock that was still hanging out inside her head.

At 11:00 that morning I took her to see a wonderful ENT named Dr. Coleman (not the same guy who deemed this event a non-emergency. I'm not sure I would have been able to be very polite.). He looked in her ear, said it was no big deal and sucked out the rock with a little ear vacuum.

Voila!!!

So, the week turned out to be pretty eventful after all. Magical, even.