Toothpicks Are For Teeth, Not Toes

Last week, while I was at a PTA meeting, I got a call from Treyson telling me that Tanner had stepped on a toothpick and he was screaming like crazy. Me, being the wonderfully compassionate mom that I am, told Treyson to get a wet washcloth, pull the toothpick out, and then cover his foot with the washcloth (I didn't want blood on the carpet of course). I then went back into my meeting thinking that the problem was solved. A few minutes later, Treyson called back and says, "Mom, it's a little more serious than you think. Plus, I learned in school to never pull a puncture wound object out." So, I went back into the meeting, excused myself, and went home to do the deed myself. Needless to say, it was more serious than I had imagined, and there was no way I was going to yank it out myself. The toothpick was sticking out of the ball of Tanner's foot, right by his toes, and parallel with his foot. Totally gross. Luckily the doctor's office wasn't quite closed up for the day, and I was able to rush him out there. The doctor gave Tanner four shots in the bottom of his foot to get him good and numb. As Tanner squeezed all life from my fingers as he was getting the shots, I felt a little guilty about the harm I had done to Nate during my four labors. That's another story though. Anyways, the doctor was able to smoothly pull the toothpick out. It was in there about an inch. Ouch. Once it was out, Tanner was a new man and pretty pumped for the good show-and-tell he would have for the next day. It's healed well and Tanner's running around like nothing happened. Now I just have to do a better job at keeping my carpets "toothpick free."