Things I have learned that I didn’t know I needed to know, but now I freely share the knowledge with you
September 15, 2006
1) If you, or more accurately your toddler, eat a Barbie shoe it will come out looking exactly like it went in, the same goes for those magnetic marbles that my older children are so fond of leaving all over the house.
2) When you are in the store buying Magic Markers, do not be lulled into the buying the teacher approved 50 cent box of crayola markers. Spend the extra money. Buy the ones that say washable. They are teacher approved because the teacher doesn’t care if your child ruins their brand new clothing.
3) As soon as you venture into the attic storage area and bring down all the cold weather crap and organize it and wash it and fold it up, the weather will forcast 80 degree temperatures through the weekend. Everyone who lives in the tristate area and has bitching and moaning about the cold weather can thank me now. You are welcome.
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Transformer pieces do the same thing. There truly is more than meets the eye!
September 15th, 2006 at 2:19 pmAnd don’t trust the “washable” Crayola paints.
It takes 3 washes WITH shout to get it out!
Heaven forbid you dry the clothing with stain…it will never come out.
I have a Kelly’s Kids sweatshirt that I paid a pretty penny for (it IS on the third kid now so I guess it evens out) that has a green stain from Jordan’s preschool painting excursion.
September 15th, 2006 at 2:23 pmThat was 4 years ago and it is still there.
My Lesson of the Day is this: as soon as you tell MULTIPLE people how well your child is doing in school, his teacher will call and say COME GET HIM RIGHT NOW. At 11:00 am. When school is dismissed at 3:00 pm. And you have a shitload of Things To Do Without The Kids.
Yep.
September 15th, 2006 at 2:26 pmYeah, now that Max’s drawer is filled to the brim with cute little corduroys and sweaters, we are expecting 80 degrees.
September 15th, 2006 at 2:40 pmMy advice? Dont buy markers at all, especially the color wonder markers, they make for an irristably tasty treat for said toddlers… One glance away and the tip of the marker is gone, chewed like candy, and you even get an “mmmm thats good!” from said toddler!
September 15th, 2006 at 2:43 pmBe careful with those magnetic marbles. I’ve heard horror stories about them. I heard that if more than one is swallowed, a lot of problems can happen. Basically, as they travel through the intestines they will attract to each other, but while one is in one part of the intestine or stomach and one is in another. So the intestines will be pulled toward each other and the balls will be stuck in there and it can cause a lot of damage internally.
If you have kids that will still swallow things, those magnetic toys should be kept out of reach. Very dangerous!
September 15th, 2006 at 3:02 pmYup, I did the same thing. Got all the winter clothes out, sorted,and put in the appropriate dressers. I even went and purchased all the missing pieces the kids wardrobes required. And then the weather went to 80 all week.
Oh well, at least I could turn the heat back off.
September 15th, 2006 at 3:17 pmThose itty bitty Legos come out the same too.
Thanks for the extra few days of summer, I’m not ready to give up my sandals yet.
September 15th, 2006 at 3:29 pmWell gosh carolyn, thank you for that bit of advice. I wonder if I should put the matches, gasoline, and poison out of the way also.
I shouldn’t have to clarify, but I will. My toddler son swallowed a Barbie shoe awhile ago. I jotted down a note to myself when I saw it come out in a notebook I keep of stuff I may one day want to blog about. This week when my 3.5 yr old and 7 yr olds, WHO ARE OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW BETTER, each swallowed one of those marbles while they were trying to hold it in their cheek and stick the other “long” piece on the outside of their cheek, I decided to post it.
September 15th, 2006 at 3:31 pmIn Texas, you can’t put clothes away. As soon as you do, it warms up again. I always leave at least two pairs of shorts and shirts out of the box.
September 15th, 2006 at 3:36 pmPerhaps you need to move on to more interesting test subjects. For example, the copper penny. I have one you can borrow if you want. I assure you, it does not look like it does going in! And also? They often look like quarters on an x-ray! What one might refer to as dangerous, another refers to as a homeschooling experiment. Go figure!
September 15th, 2006 at 4:02 pmLMFAO- that is awesome. umm… i think
September 15th, 2006 at 4:10 pmBarbie shoe, Ha! how funny. Cap erasers come out the same way, too. Just if anybody was wondering.
September 15th, 2006 at 4:15 pmY’all are making me nervous……with all these experiments
In my previous life I worked as a registered nurse in an after-hours pediatric outpatient clinic - poor kiddies subjected to all kinds of procedures to remove foreign objects from their bodies - some couldn’t be removed….just had to pass thru normally 
September 15th, 2006 at 4:20 pmMarkers, washable or otherwise are why we shop at Wal-Mart. Little boys clothes should be disposable. That and because we are cheap.
September 15th, 2006 at 4:52 pmi know! i JUST changed all my kids clothes out yesterday and now they are sweating in their winter clothes.
i really need to watch the news once in awhile….
September 15th, 2006 at 5:00 pmWashable markers? I’m with you — and I’m a teacher. A teacher who has ruined several shirts, sweaters, and even pants (yes, khaki pants) with overhead and white board markers. I now keep a Tide To Go pen in my purse for school days. (Nananana,Nanananana, Hey Hey, goodbye!)
September 15th, 2006 at 5:44 pmFor what it’s worth, I’ll pass along to you the story of what happened to the son of a friend of mine a few months ago. Her son decided to eat two small magnets. Instead of passing through his system, they became lodged in different places in his system and attracted to each other. Because they were sitting there, stuck in his intestines and unable to be dislodged, they began to corrode and caused severe damage to her son’s intestines. He was in the hospital for about two weeks, being evaluated (lots of acute abdominal pain and vomiting), having surgery to have the magnets removed and his intestines repaired, and recovering. She spent a lot of money that she shouldn’t have had to spend, and we all worried about her son as it became apparent that the magnets weren’t moving and he was losing his ability/willingness to eat. Oh, and her son is about 10 — old enough to know better! I gave my son (who once swallowed a lollipop stick when at the barber’s with his dad — and that broke down because it was paper, so we never saw it again — ahem) a stern lecture about this sort of thing and told him I’d take away every single fun thing he owns if I ever caught him putting nonfood items in his mouth. So far, so good. (desperately crossing fingers, knocking on wood, touching lucky rabbits’s foot, etc.)
September 15th, 2006 at 6:07 pmAdd to your list of things you didnt really want to know: Hot wheel cars literally become “hot wheels” when you microwave them. The wheels catch on fire, thus the fantastic name “Hot wheels” . Fun times we have with those toddlers of ours.
September 15th, 2006 at 6:30 pmI just put my sandals away…. thanks a lot
September 15th, 2006 at 7:15 pmOuch, I think you were a bit harsh to Carolyn there. Personally I’ve never heard stories before of the havoc two swallowed magnets could wreak on a child’s intestines. Obviously all swallowable nonfood objects should be kept out of a toddler’s reach, but I think Carolyn was simply making the point that magnets warrant an even higher degree of precaution. Maybe you already knew this, but I sure didn’t.
September 15th, 2006 at 7:49 pmI think the magnets have actually been recalled.
September 15th, 2006 at 7:57 pmWe had a swallowing penny/quarter issue. The child who swallowed it and had to be hospitalized often recomends this activity to other children. She got a stuffed bear, a cool sippy cup, and some miniature bear playsets out of it. Not to mention the complete attention of three adults who love her.
Swallowing stuff is great fun, particularly if it results in hospitalization. Ask our 8 year old.
September 15th, 2006 at 8:03 pmBut the balls aren’t magnetic, the rods are. Or maybe I am thinking of something else.
Please do buy the washable markers! My son’s teacher does “require” washable, but people do buy the regular to save the 50 cents. In his classroom, the markers are not kept by the student (or the crayons, paper, folders, glue, etc.) but placed in a stock room and pulled out for communal use, so we all suffer occasionally from the non-washable stuff.
September 15th, 2006 at 8:16 pmWe’ve been really lucky here (KNOCK ON WOOD!) with swallowing incidents. We have magnetix and I’ve heard the stories and we still have them. I bet Polly Pocket stuff ends up in the diaper intact as well, ha!
I’ve heard horror stories about peas/beans/popcorn kernels up the nose and in the ears too. And we still eat all those things.
September 15th, 2006 at 10:04 pmCan anyone tell me where to find the bubble to place my children in? That should stop the nightmares I’m going to have tonight about forgein object removal!!! Not to mention the dreams about strange stuff coming from my children’s poop. How toddlers do add excitement to our lives!!!!
September 15th, 2006 at 10:20 pmI just want to say that after reading the comments, I am in awe of the durability of the human body!
Another good thing to know, “Non-Toxic” is NOT the same as “Edible”. My brother made a Play-Doh pizza and then ate it when we weren’t looking. Apparently, non-toxic can be loosely defined as “will make you vomit until your body is absolutely positive that every last bit of Play-Doh has exited your system”!
September 15th, 2006 at 10:27 pmI’m just wondering. Did the magnets work on their cheeks? If not they they won’t work in the intestines either. I think I’m going to try it and see.
Nope. It didn’t work.
Thanks for the info on the Barbie shoe. Now I won’t have to try that for myself.
September 16th, 2006 at 12:52 amYes, the magnets do work on the cheeks. But, after reading Carolyn’s warning, they aren’t going there anymore!!!
September 16th, 2006 at 9:01 amCarolyn is correct, I’ve linked the recall notice. You can also view the CNN article here:
September 16th, 2006 at 9:06 amhttp://money.cnn.com/2006/03/31/news/recall/index.htm
I never knew such horrible things could happen if kids swallowed little magnets, etc. I mean I knew they wouldn’t be fantastic news for the intestines! My son is 12 but I wouldn’t put it past him to try out the odd stunt.
September 16th, 2006 at 10:37 amthank you
September 16th, 2006 at 11:30 amYep, the magnets are really dangerous- I remember hearing about that a while ago. I can’t imagine what that family went thru. Luckily Chris’ boys swallowed just one each.
On the same tangent- I can tell you how to get a foreign object out of a child’s nose (and no- you don’t reach in and try to pull it out. LOL). That was a fun lesson. LOL
September 16th, 2006 at 12:11 pmYikes on the magnets. Read the article and saw the gagillion pieces. All the wonderful shiny colors would attract any toddler to stuff them in their mouth. And with all those pieces, how could you possible keep track of EVERY.SINGLE.ONE?
After reading the comments, I guess the biggest thing is using good old common sense when you have little ones. Hell, how many babies die from choking on hot dogs every year? Have those been recalled yet?
September 16th, 2006 at 12:41 pmI quickly became known as Crayon Nazi Mama ’round here.
Nothing but washable Crayolas pass through my doors.
September 16th, 2006 at 12:47 pmYou could just buy them Sharpies. Those are pretty cheap.
September 16th, 2006 at 1:17 pmChris,
I wasn’t trying to insult you when I warned about what trouble the magnets can cause when they are swallowed. I was only trying to tell you about something I was pretty sure you weren’t aware of by the joking nature of your post. I would never any child to experience that.
Thank you to those that defended me.
Carolyn
September 16th, 2006 at 1:38 pmwow I never even thought about magnets! and my 2 year old loves to put EVERYTHING in her mouth! Acorns, rocks, dirt, coffe grinds, marker tips, crayons, shes faster than a speeding bullet i tell you! I wont be buying anything magnet related till shes a teenager!
September 16th, 2006 at 2:40 pmScary that can happen!
woops
September 16th, 2006 at 2:42 pmI never thought I would say this but man do I enjoy having teenagers!
September 16th, 2006 at 4:55 pmGood advice mama….
September 17th, 2006 at 3:13 amI was just looking at sweaters in the closet and then thought “na… too soon.” Thank Goodness as today was about 80!
You give me words to live by!
September 17th, 2006 at 8:02 amGot to get the Fall clothes out too.
Who knew about Barbie Shoes being so indestructable? I’ll file that one.
Yeah, “washable” paints, ha! - my daughter wrecked a new dress playing with those at a local children’s museum (and her side was blue for a week).
At least I finally found a plus to having such a tiny, limited wardrobe - nothing is ever packed away in the attic, so the weather doesn’t matter!
September 17th, 2006 at 9:05 amAdd those “won’t cut anything but paper” scissors to the list of nono’s. My now 11 year old cut three new shirts and his hair when he was two with a set of those crayons. we could never get the scissors to cut paper though.
September 17th, 2006 at 10:51 pmI had just had to add this to the post!:
September 24th, 2006 at 11:07 pmI always know when my four year old forgets to pick up her crayons. The baby has rainbow filled diapers.Crayons come out the same way they go in. They don’t mix and the colors don’t fade.