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Hi ladies!
So our son who is five has been home for a little over two weeks now. Friday night we ended up going to the ER for a visit because I noticed when I was changing his diaper that he had swallowed my necklace chain.
I'm not sure how he had time, how he got it down. As soon as I noticed, we got dressed and rushed to the hospital. The doctor laughed and said that children had lived through much worse. The whole time I'm beyond upset and feeling like the worse mom in the world. The doctor removed and then they took an x-ray to check and make sure everything was fine. Thankfully it was and we were on our way.:eek:
We are a pre-adoptive placement and tomorrow afternoon we have a family case plan meeting. I'm really nervous about discussing it. We watch him what feels like 24 hours a day. The previous home told us nothing of this kind of behavior. I'm grateful that he is okay but I felt terrible.
As I have been told from a few close friends that we should take this as a welcome to parenthood. Saturday I spent the whole day scouring the house for anything and everything. This included new safety locks and door clamps. We are just trying to breathe at this point.
Any thoughts, advice or similar stories?
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When I house proofed in prep for my son to come home or when I have moved house, i do the best I can and then follow him to find out what else he can get into. Dont be too hard on yourself, you didnt get him as a little helpless, fully dependant on you child; you have him as a little active child who is ready to take on the world. It takes time to know him and for him to know you and for your house to accommodate him. Just watch closely what he gets into and go from there. Its not going to be perfect but give yourself time to adjust to this new stage in your life. I wish you all the best and hope that you can look back on this days with humour one day.
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The only people who will be upset by this are people who haven't been parents before. Most people who have been parents, or worked with kids will laugh. Kids just do the darndest things. How about one child I knew. He was uncircumcised, about 3 years old, and stuffed a pea into the end of his penis foreskin. His mom and dad were already divorced, mom had to call dad to come get it out. Dad thought it was hilarious, mom was furious, son was curious. Kids do things that scare us, that hurt themselves, it's just part of parenting, part of being a child. No one can keep their child from hurting themselves 100% of the time. We get through it, they get through it. Our job is to *care* for them when hurt, and get them any treatment they may need. The fact that we care is what makes us good parents. (Or inadequate parents, if we don't care.)
WOW! A necklace, that's a good one. It happens to most kids I think. Usually though its coins or barbie shoes. My son swallowed a quarter, my niece one of the slimy sticky hands from the gumball machine. I agree that every single parent has their kids eat or swallow something,or jerk their hand away & run in parking lots, they disappear at Walmart right in front of you. It happens to EVERY parent, but this is going to make a great story for when hes older!
My bio son swallowed liquid candle oil (shimmied the shelf) result: ER visit 2 weeks later my son shimmed the kitchen cabinets and pried off the dropper top (yes this was childproof medicine bottle) and drank my cats medicine. Keep in mind this medicine had only been in the house 5 min tops as we were just coming in from the vet visit. In cats it keeps the urinary track open in humans it shuts down the heart. result: ER visit, followed by inpatient and a helicopter on standby for a different hospital. Thankfully we didn't have to use it and my son was fine. But I was a mess stating that "I am a good mom" over and over.
My son has PDD and was just a very inquisitive child. If you said "don't touch the outlet." He would move down and play with the one six feet down. He could do every lock or knob. It was exhausting. We both survived with many many stories to tell. Hang in there.
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One of my many surprising/embarrassing moments as a parent happened on the second day I had my daughter! I adopted her from Russia and she was 6 years old. The woman we were staying with in Moscow suggested we go to the Pushkin Museum. As my hostess and I were debating about tickets, my daughter disappeared! I was running around the museum, getting yelled at by very big, mean-looking Soviet type female guards, all while I was crying. I found her downstairs, just wandering around... crying. I felt soooo bad. But, as everyone has explained, you'll have many more of these moments. And, my daughter is now a sophomore at Duke University, so we both survived!Susan Ward[url=http://www.OlderChildAdoptionSupport.com]Older Child Adoption Support - Main Page[/url]