"There's a siren in my nose."

What enters your mind when you read that statement? A lot of things, or absolutely nothing, because it doesn't make any sense?

This was a statement given to me by my 3 year old, Nathan. It was the 4th night of Matt being away on a business trip in Korea. (Yes, of course, I count down the days when he is gone.) I was preparing dinner and ready to put it on the table, when I heard Nathan calmly say to me, "There is a siren in my nose."

At first, I couldn't even comprehend what he was saying. I got all of it except for the word "siren." Normally, he would say "booger," but it was no where near that. I asked him repeatedly to say it again. "What? What is in your nose?" And then he said it again...loud a clear, "a SIREN!"

I was totally perplexed at this point. I walked over to him and pinched his nose. It didn't "pinch" the way his soft little nose was supposed to "pinch." Something was in there, and according to him, it was a siren.

I looked up into his little, troublemaker nose. Lo and behold, I faintly saw a tiny blue lego piece that belonged to a rescue vehicle. And, yes. Nathan was right. It was the siren. It was equivalent to the size of a pencil eraser top, if you sliced the very tip of it. It was one of those pieces that escaped from Ben's dangerously small toys that are not appropriate for the younger boys, especially for reasons such as this.

I tried to stay calm, because the thought of taking all three boys in the evening, in the middle of a snowfall to the ER made me WANT to panic. The small siren piece was not the same as the soft peas that I found up his nose which was easy to pull out carefully with tweezers. I told Nathan to blow his nose...really, really hard. I was not hopeful. I envisioned us getting into the car. But, I was lucky that night. After 3 big blows...out popped the siren.

Kids have a fascination with their nose and ears. This is the lesson I have learned. It's not enough for them to be told that their nose and ears are for smelling and hearing. They want to know more. I just hope that I'm getting the point across that they are not to be used to store away food or toys.

Sigh....