The curse of FRIDAY THE 13TH!!

Today is Friday the 13th. A fact pointed out to me by my husband this morning. The big girls were out playing in the living room, and Adam and i were getting ready when he brought it up. "it's friday the 13th" he reminded me and i had just been thinking the same thing. "so what," i told him, " Friday the 13th is just a way for people to blame the bad things that happen to them on someone or something else, so that it wasn't their fault, for not being prepared for something, or for forgetting to do something, it's stupid. Own up and take responsibility no matter what day it is!" I don't know why i felt so indignat about this stupid day, but for some reason i did. For a breif moment i wondered what could happen to us or me today that i would even ever bother blaming on the day being what it was. The thought left as soon as it came and i headed out to the living room and kitchen to get breakfast ready for the kids. The baby was already in her high chair, banging her empty cup and making a very loud rucus over her lack of cheerios. I looked down at the table and almost missed it....the empty bottle. You see last night for some stupid reason i left my purse on the dining room table, which i have NEVER EVER DONE! I always hang my purse on the hook by the door, that's why it's there! I happened to have had my hands full when i came in and i walked past the hook with my purse still on and i set it on the table. When i went to bed not long later I even noticed it, noticed very clearly that i had put it there, and thought for a moment that i should move it, but i didn't. So here it is morning, and i notice an empty bottle on the table...an empty PILL bottle! The lid was off and there was no trace to be found of the sweet pink cherry flavored tylenol meltaway tablets that i know had been in there the night before. I'd used that bottle just last week when Maggie was running a fever, i'd put the bottle in my purse because we were headed out the door and i wanted to bring it with us just in case. I remember shaking the bottle and hearing a muffled rattle and being aware that the bottle was at least half full. Half full is 15 tablets out of the 30 count it comes with. I panicked! It took but a breath to realize who'd done it, and when i saw her on the floor with the rest of the contents of my purse i knew that Maggie had been the one who'd opened and obsconded the flavored medicine. Scared out of my mind i instantly asked how many she'd eaten. A fear struck her that whatever she'd done had been bad, as obvious by the tone of my voice, and she clammed up. Afraid of instigating herself in whatever punishment was about to ensue. I looked to Lainey, "Did Maggie eat these?" I asked, fear evident by the break in my voice when it reached peak intensity. She spoke soft, also afraid of what the punishment was for her answer I'm sure and all i made out was "yes." I turned around in a circle a few times going one way and then another, totally clueless as to what to do first. I had a million thoughts in my head, how would i know if they'd eaten too many? Should i call poison control or the doctor, or go to the hospital? I quickly called Adam who'd only been out the door moments before and he came running back. He thought to ask something i hadn't, he asked Lainey if she too had eaten this forbidden "candy." She thought hard about her answer and then replied "only two" She wanted to be honest and admit that she had eaten some, but i think maybe she thought that saying two wouldnt' get her into trouble. There was no way to know if she was telling the truth or not. Now i had an even bigger problem, at first i thought it was just Maggie, but now Lainey too, Adam and I simultanously thought of the next question..."Did you feed any to baby?" Without hesitation they both confidenly responded "NO!" this usually meant they were telling the truth, if they have to think about their answer they're usually thinking of a lie that will get them in less trouble than the truth. Well there was a breath, that was one less to worry about. Again i thought aloud "What do we do?!!" I read the bottle and it said that for overdose you should seek medical attention immediately even if you aren't showing signs of a problem. Well that was all i needed to know, off to the hospital! I called my mom and was able to drop the baby off with her, sweet thing happilly oblivious to the tense nature of the car ride, she babbled away as we sped to grammer's house. I dropped her off in lightening speed, giving instructions as i ran back to the van " she's had breakfast, she'll be tired soon...just lay her down and let her cry, she'll go to sleep!" i called before slamming the door and racing down the street. The girls were quite silent still uncomprehending what was so bad about eating a little "candy" as i'm sure it must have seemed to them. At a slow stoplight which seemed red for eternity i took a moment to share with them what had been so bad. I think it was hard for them to figure how something you get to make you feel better can make you feel so much worse. I tried to stay calm, part of me wanted to take away all their toys forever and make them stand in the corner every day for a week...i was so angry i couldn't see straight! but the other part of me saw their scared eyes sitting behind me and couldnt' help but feel that this was all my fault. I'd thought last night that i should put the purse on the hook, and i didn't. I knew i was leaving it out where they could get it, and i hadn't ever stopped to take stock of what was still in it that might be a danger to them. When we got to the hospital we were taken right in, there was no one else in the waiting room, which was nice. The kids still seemed to be fine, but of course the question still was...how many did each of them eat? And worse than that to me was the question...how many would be toxic to their small bodies? The doctor came in and saw them, he read the bottle and dosing info on it and called poison control to verify his own thoughts. He returned with great news, because the dose was so small, they would have had to take 35 or more to have a toxic amount in them, and because i knew that even at full capacity this bottle only had 30, we were in the clear. They'd obviously split some amount, and i had remembered thinking there were somewhere between 10 and 15 last time we used them, so there was no way the amount they took could be toxic. We were released shortly after and i felt like i could breathe again. I was signing our paperwork when i suddenly recalled the date. I recalled my own thoughts on how people blame bad things happening on this date, and i caught myself for a second about to do the same. But i wised up, took my own advice and remembered that the responsibility for safety in our home is the parents, and i take full stupidity blame for what happened. We also found that the exact amount of acetominophen it takes to be toxic to a child is 200mg/1Kg of weight. So if anyone else's child ever ingests tylenol or any generic thereof, feel free to refer back to this blog :) Happy Friday the 13th!!