That’s The Last Time I Say ‘Do You Think I Can Just Pull Money From My…’

That's the last time I say to my daughter "Do you think I can just pull money from my butt?"

My youngest, Sofia, at a wise 2 years of age, decided to demonstrate today that it is actually possible to pull money from one's butt.

So there I was, sitting at the kitchen table, and just outside the kitchen door on the back porch, I hear Sofia yell to my mom, "Grandma, I have a lucky penny."

She makes her way to the door and as I get up to open it for her, I see that she has the penny in her mouth; something she has been told numerous times not to do.

And then, she's choking.

Of course, this would happen when my wife isn't here.  My mom was off in the yard with my son, unaware of what was happening and probably wouldn't have made it to the porch before it was too late anyway.  It was up to me.

I had seen my wife, Sarah, dig enough things out of our kids throats at various points.  I had even done it once -- maybe twice.  I knew that's what I had to do again.  So I reached in to grab the penny and I felt it!  I thought I could get my fingers on it and yank it out, but then Sofia jerked away from me.  Still choking on it, I pull her back toward me and shove my fingers back in her throat again, only this time I don't feel anything.  And then...

Crying.

Relief.

The penny had dislodged but where was it?  Nope, it wasn't in her mouth and it hadn't fallen out of her mouth so... yep...

I wasn't really concerned that she had swallowed it, but shortly after, she began complaining that her throat and stomach were hurting.  As a general rule, at least when it comes to our kids, we choose safe rather than sorry.  So, after Sarah returned home, she called the doctor, who advised that we should have her X-ray'd, just in case.

It's actually possible for things like pennies to get stuck in the throat or where the esophagus meets the stomach.  In those cases, it's surgery time.  Fortunately, as the X-ray so clearly shows, Sofia's 'lucky penny' made it to her stomach.  So, yeah, our entertainment for the next few days will involve of dissecting waste.

The moral of the story is, you can pull money from your butt, but you'll have to spend a few days even more broke than you would have been.