See You On The Other Side!

Braden has been learning a lot about money lately, and we have enjoyed giving him the responsibility of saving coins that he gets here and there. Today, Spencer gave him a penny and told him to be responsible for it and not to lose it. We were on the road when he announced "I swallowed the penny." At first I thought that he was telling us something from his imagination, so I asked, "Are you pretending that you swallowed the penny, or did you really swallow it?" He said, "I really swallowed it. I'm sorry. My teeth just pushed it down my throat." He doesn't usually lie, so although I found it hard to believe, I did trust him (after asking him another 5 times or so). Spencer and I looked at each other... another first as parents... a semi-large foreign object in the digestive system. We both felt it unnecessary to race off the ER, so we decided to call our cousin, Marie, instead (an ER nurse). Luckily, she was awake and available and reassured me that kids swallow coins all the time and they are generally fine. She's even seen kids who have swallowed larger coins... but they are round and pretty smooth and "pass" without problems. She did recommend just for peace of mind to "be on the look out" for that unlucky penny during potty time. So, heres to you Mr. Penny... see you on the other side!