A Little Boy and His Straw

So, yesterday was going along nicely. I was sitting in the teacher's lounge eating lunch when the phone call from the elementary school came. Mrs. Loftin, your son is in here and he just threw up. Our policy is that if a child throws up, they must go home. So, I pack up and head that way. Just before I got there, I run into the store to get some 7-up and soup for him.

I go into the nurses office and see him there. He says "mommy, I threw up" in that sweet little voice of his, so I want to just take him home and take care of him. The nurse tells me that because he threw up, he cannot come back the next day. You should have seen his face drop. "Tomorrow is Splash Day, and now I can't come!" I told him it would be okay. I'll take him home and help him get well so we can have some fun this weekend. All the while I was talking to him, he truly didn't seem that sick, but I figured the nurse knew more than I did. So, we headed home.

I get him on the couch (trash can nearby) and get him some 7-up and crackers to help settle his stomach. I don't do well with bodily fluids, so I knew if he lost his lunch, I most likely would too! So, I wanted him well! I took his temperature...no fever. I turned on the cartoons, covered him up and he layed there. Every few minutes he'd ask me a question, and you'd think he wasy saying his dying request with how softly and strained his voice was. It made me chuckle a couple of times because when he wasn't thinking about it, or I wasn't close by, he was in full voice! :)

So, as the day goes on, I realize that he's not sick. He may have gotten sick, but he's fine now. But, he's upset about not getting to go to Splash Day. So, I called my work and let them know that the school said he had to stay home, which meant, I needed a sub. Not a good day for it with 4 other teachers absent, but I had no choice.

So, in trying to console my little boy, I told him that if he was for sure well by tomorrow, that he and I would go do something fun (like going to a movie or something since we were forced to not go to work and school). He loved that idea! So, the rest of the day went by without a hitch.

Dinner time....as he is sitting there waiting for me to come sit down he says "mom...just so you know I really am not sick, I need to tell you the rest of the story." I didn't know where he was headed at first, but here it came..."Well, you know how they give us straws with our milk? Well, I always play with it and put it in my mouth and I accidentally stuck it down my throat and made myself throw up." So, of course, the kids nearby holler "Teacher, Shane threw up!!" So, he gets sent to the nurses office and you know the rest.

So, what do I do?? Well, I went to my neighbor who has a 9 year old daughter and asked what she would do. She suggested that I take him to school and explain what happened. So, this morning we loaded up and headed to school. I felt like a kid back in school and in trouble sitting there in the Principals office. We saw the nurse walk in and we explained what happened. She questioned me about a few things but in the end, said that he could stay, so he was really happy.

So...I had paged our secretary at school the night before and told her a bit of this story. Enough so that they could call and cancel my sub for the day so that I could go to work! Whew...I am so glad the school said that Shane could stay because if they had said he couldn't and I had canceled my sub...well, lets just say that my boss would not have been thrilled. So, everything worked out okay!