Devlin's ear misadventure

I got a call from Devlin's school. Just before dismissal, the kids were cleaning up after an activity, and Devlin... (I was half-afraid I was going to be told he got into a fight with another kid)...put a popcorn kernel in his ear, and now it's stuck in there.


Part of me was relieved he didn't get into a pushing match with another student, and there was a part of me that was embarrassed that I had that kid, the one who always manages to find some bit of trouble. Another part of me was asking, in a very loud voice, "WHY? WHY? WHY?"


I called home to give Daddy the head's up. Daddy who was trying to recuperate from a cold. Daddy, who now has to figure out if the kernel can be removed at home, or if a trip to the doctor's is warranted, or worse, a jaunt to the emergency room. Daddy, who's also shaking his head, and thinking, "of all the stupid things..."



Well, when asked why, Devlin said another kid told him to do it.



The response on the tip of my tongue is, "if someone told you to jump off the bridge, would you???"

Well, the doctor at the walk-in clinic was unsuccessful at retrieving the errant kernel. Despite going in with long tweezers and trying to flush it out.

A trip to the ER ensued. The receptionist and the nurses all smothered their grins when they heard why we were there. After a long wait, we were finally ushered in. The nurse-practitioner put on a head piece with a lamp (like a miner's helmet) and took a look. She was confident she could dislodge the kernel. That is, until Devlin started freaking out when she touched his ear and poked at it with this long skinny hook. He started kicking up a fuss. I tried to hold him down. He fought me off. All the while screaming "Don't touch my ear please. Don't hurt me please!" At least, he remembered his manners. The promise of candy wasn't tempting enough to persuade him to sit still in the chair. Not even the threat of having a corn plant growing out of his ear if the kernel wasn't removed.
The decision was made to lay him in a bed while restraining him with a sheet. He had to be dragged to the bed. By two adults. The nurse swaddled him with the sheet. His hands managed to escape. Re-swaddling, while I held down his legs and the other nurse immobilized his upper half. Another attempt at grabbing the popcorn kernel. Lots of screaming. All of the patients are staring or laughing at us. Devlin still managed to squirm and wriggle - his hands popped out again, his head kept moving, and the end result was bleeding from the ear and no kernel.
I felt like a failure as a mother because I couldn't control nor calm my child down.
Another consult, and next course of action is to see an Ears Nose Throat Specialist tomorrow. Hopefully they'll be able to remove the kernel with a special suction instrument. They also suggested bringing along someone stronger to restrain him.
"Cute kid," the ER staff all commented as we gathered our belongings. "And very feisty!"
Yep, also full of mischief.
Parenting - never a dull moment.