Minty Fresh

Aydin is currently more than a little obsessed with Altoids Smalls (Wintergreen flavor).  Up till now, I haven't had too much of a problem giving them to her.  There are only 25 calories to an entire tin, so I figure, give the kid a little indulgence.  I mean, she can't eat pizza, for goodness' sake!

Well, all seemed to be well in the mint universe. We were getting ready to head out the door Friday morning -- and it had been one of those herding-cats type pushes to get us to this point already: Aydin suddenly taking a profound interest in all her toys, running around the house to avoid clothes (and diaper even), resisting our shoes and socks ritual...  The only way I was able to psyche her into getting strapped in to our new-to-us Bugaboo was the promise of m-i-n-t-s.  So there we were, front door open, mom Velco-ing shut her sport mary janes, about to wheel this Jaguar of a stroller down the stoop when the phone rings.  It's mom / Mimi, calling with a quick question about Aydin's shoe size.  And in the thirty-five seconds it took for me to answer mom's question, I swear Aydin discovered her nostrils.  She pushed one of those square-shaped, quarter-inch-sized mints right up her left nostril, grew alarmed, tried to fish it out, and only ended pushing it up there farther.

Understandably, the fresh-breath sensation gave way to a mild burning within seconds, as Aydin's nasal cavity made contact with the mint.  She seemed panicked and maybe even a little guilty, knowing she had acted on her own free will and had created a Situation, as it were.  Aydin called my name and trembled a little.  I was, of course, on the phone and told mom I had to "deal with something."  I looked at Aydin's nostril.  A tiny blotch of electric blue was smeared around her nose.  Huh?  It took me a second to put two and two together.

And then I sprang into action.  Dashed upstairs, wet a paper towel, grabbed the nasal aspirator, all while, in the back of my head, I'm thinking, "Really?  Our first trip to the ER is going to be to fish a freaking Altoid out of my daughter's nose?  By the time we get there it will probably have disintegrated!"  But Aydin was growing more and more agitated so I had to do what I had to do.

It wasn't until I threw Aydin's head back and got a good glimpse into her nostril that I truly had a sense of what we were dealing with.  That little square was lodged pretty good.  It was high up there, too.  So I aspirated, wiped with the wet washcloth, and did what I had to do: I looked Aydin in the eyes and I said, "For the love of God, you're gonna have to blow, and blow HARD."

Thank goodness Aydin knows what that means. I swear she nodded and as I held the unoffending nostril closed tight, Aydin blew like she's never blown before.  That little Altoid came shooting out, like a spitball, right into the wet washcloth.  Aydin looked up at me, eyes wide.  I laughed out loud.  How silly and yet kind of scary!  All I could think was this, "And so it begins, the Era of Naughty."