Natural Consequences
A while ago, someone gave the girls a package of bubble gum--one of those "6 Feet of Bubble Tape" things. Since it's not the type of thing we give our kids and they aren't really old enough to be trusted not to swallow it, we'd put it away in a kitchen drawer.
This evening as she was getting ready for bed, AJ brought DH a doll box containing scattered bits of a blue stretchy substance. "Look, Daddy! This candy is really good. Want some?"
It was what was left of the roll of bubble gum tape.
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We found the empty package in the garbage in her room. I estimated 12-18 inches of the 6 feet of gum remained uneaten. She had eaten most of it during her afternoon quiet time, and probably more after dinner.
A quick call to the poison control center verified that she wasn't in any danger of poisoning. The lady I spoke to seemed to think it all rather humorous. The pediatrician said to watch her carefully for signs of intestinal blockage.
We talked to both girls very seriously about taking and eating things we had not given to them. Warning AJ that the gum might make her sick, we told her that we'd decide what her consequence would be in the morning.
But the consequences came long before that.
The combination of a stomach full of bubble gum along with the large helping of popcorn that had been our Sunday evening treat must have been quite unpleasant.
The first time she vomited, DH and I were both a little relieved--both that she was emptying the gum out of her digestive system, and that we wouldn't need to come up with an artificial consequence for her actions.
She went from thinking the whole situation slightly humorous, to wishing vehemently that she'd never eaten the "candy".
"But, Mommy, I didn't know it was gum." [She did, however, know that she shouldn't have taken and eaten it without permission.]
Typical for AJ, she was even more upset about the mess factor than about the discomfort of being sick. Poor thing was nearly hysterical when some got on her bed even though she tried to get it all in the bowl we'd provided.
Soon she was praying aloud that God would make her stop throwing up. I explained that God sometimes allows consequences for our actions (like getting sick from eating gum) to help us learn not to do things we shouldn't do.
By the 4th or 5th session, as she was having dry heaves in the bathroom, I was begging for mercy right along with her. Hasn't my little girl suffered enough to learn her lesson already? She looked so miserable; her eyes huge in her pale, drawn face, her lips stained blue from the gum.
She's sleeping now. Hopefully the ordeal is over. And hopefully both girls have learned an important lesson.
This is definitely not a lesson we'd like to repeat.
This evening as she was getting ready for bed, AJ brought DH a doll box containing scattered bits of a blue stretchy substance. "Look, Daddy! This candy is really good. Want some?"
It was what was left of the roll of bubble gum tape.
#####################
We found the empty package in the garbage in her room. I estimated 12-18 inches of the 6 feet of gum remained uneaten. She had eaten most of it during her afternoon quiet time, and probably more after dinner.
A quick call to the poison control center verified that she wasn't in any danger of poisoning. The lady I spoke to seemed to think it all rather humorous. The pediatrician said to watch her carefully for signs of intestinal blockage.
We talked to both girls very seriously about taking and eating things we had not given to them. Warning AJ that the gum might make her sick, we told her that we'd decide what her consequence would be in the morning.
But the consequences came long before that.
The combination of a stomach full of bubble gum along with the large helping of popcorn that had been our Sunday evening treat must have been quite unpleasant.
The first time she vomited, DH and I were both a little relieved--both that she was emptying the gum out of her digestive system, and that we wouldn't need to come up with an artificial consequence for her actions.
She went from thinking the whole situation slightly humorous, to wishing vehemently that she'd never eaten the "candy".
"But, Mommy, I didn't know it was gum." [She did, however, know that she shouldn't have taken and eaten it without permission.]
Typical for AJ, she was even more upset about the mess factor than about the discomfort of being sick. Poor thing was nearly hysterical when some got on her bed even though she tried to get it all in the bowl we'd provided.
Soon she was praying aloud that God would make her stop throwing up. I explained that God sometimes allows consequences for our actions (like getting sick from eating gum) to help us learn not to do things we shouldn't do.
By the 4th or 5th session, as she was having dry heaves in the bathroom, I was begging for mercy right along with her. Hasn't my little girl suffered enough to learn her lesson already? She looked so miserable; her eyes huge in her pale, drawn face, her lips stained blue from the gum.
She's sleeping now. Hopefully the ordeal is over. And hopefully both girls have learned an important lesson.
This is definitely not a lesson we'd like to repeat.
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Posted by purple_kangaroo at 11:20 PM[Permanent link]
7 Comments:
Oh, poor sweetheart. I wouldn't have thought that would make someone sick! Prayers for her to feel better soon, and to never want eat bubble gum candy anymore!
Poor baby! I would say she has learned her lesson, but what a way to learn. I hope she feels better when she wakes up.
Yowtch! I hope she's feeling better.
Muffin Man won't touch gum with a ten-foot pole - he saw what happened to Violet in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the Gene Wilder version).
Poor kid. But...sometimes the natural consequences are enough to firmly plant the knowledge that it shouldn't be done. Wow. Poor sweetie.
Well, she has a 100 degree fever today. So who knows . . . it may not have been from the gum. But I'm not telling her that. :)
Our recent bout with a stomach bug was preceded by a dinner out at which LG ate an entire plate of deli pickles -- 10-15 pickles. So he threw up half-digested pickles all night.
No word yet on whether or not he'll ever be able to eat pickles again. But I know that I sure won't!
Ick, PS . . . it's amazing how something like that can ruin your enjoyment of a particular food.
AJ is fine and eating ravenously today. She's had no other symptoms and nobody else has gotten sick, so I assume her stomach upset was from the huge quantities of gum. The slight fever, I don't know? But it's gone.
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