A couple of weeks ago, I clocked out of work at the end of the day, drove across town and walked into the preschool my daughter attends.
Like any other day I smiled across the room at her, confessed how much I missed her in the 7 hours we were apart and waved to her teacher. But unlike any other day the first words out of my daughter’s mouth were “I have a bean stuck in my ear.”
A bean?
I cautiously took a peek inside and sure enough! A little dried black bean was plugged inside her adorable ear, just far enough out of reasonable reach for any finger to pull it back out. Her teacher and I looked at each other stupefied. This was clearly above both of our pay grades and I had yet to come across this kind of situation in my parenting years. A phone call to both my older sister AND my mom for back-up determined no Google search solution was going to get the bean safely out. I needed professional help.
I had heard such a thing was possible in passing jokes or a funny story here and there and couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity. In fact, I laughed all the way to the recommended urgent care visit and throughout the bag of tricks the staff there had on hand. None of which worked, but it was informative!
Now, you might be wondering – how was the 4 year old during all this? She was a happy, joyful star of the show and it wasn’t hurting her. However, she didn’t trip and happen to fall ear side down on a bean, oh no. She herself was the auditory assailant and just decided to pop one in there during rest time for the heck of it, becoming concerned when she couldn’t get it out and stressfully kept that bit of information to herself until she saw her safe space (Me!) and *ahem* spilled the beans.
It wasn’t until the following afternoon that our local ENT office saved the day, getting it out in record time! If you’re ever curious about the differences between urgent care and the ENT like I was, ENT is a specialty office and have more specialized tools and have seen their fair share of foreign objects in ears. I remain so thankful for all the help available to us, and my daughter certainly learned her lesson through all this. Don’t put beans in your ears.
– Shannon Hart is a Vermont native, mother of 2 and Graphic Designer at the Addison Independent
Do you have a story to share about life with young kids in Addison County? We’d love to hear from you! Email [email protected].