Article Contributed on: 4/29/2007 11:54:41 PM
I should have known better. Honestly. It's somewhat beyond me how a man of my experience - namely a background that includes both playing several musical instrumentsand a near-mastery of Morse Code - could miss such obvious, audible cues.
But miss them I did...
We - the boys and I - were on our way home after a showing-imposed noontime absence and lunch hour, (coming soon to a network station near you!), when things in the back seat of my cab fell strangely silent.
Now, I just assumed that since their bellies were full and we were so close to nap time, they'd fallen asleep. But I missed D-Man's intermittent whine; he was reaching for something. Something on the floor or something that was being refused him. And since I'd just cleaned out the truck, I should've known he was after something his younger brother was refusing to share.
Worse yet, that 'something' Binky was refusing to share was something he was eating. Namely, sunscreen.
A quick examination of the child would have shown that he was mercifully free of symptoms - other than that of being a "turkey butt" as we say 'round here - which is perfectly within normal parameters. But a quick read of the label, (done at 50 MPH while driving alongEvergreen Parkway), says to contact medical help or a poison control center immediately.
So I call 911. We're encouraged to pull over and we do so - along a broad shoulder along Brook Forest. The professionals and volunteers are on their way and I'm asked by the dispatcher if he's gotten the sunscreen into his eyes. No, I reply, he's eaten some of it.
The volunteers arrive, (great guys, BTW), and ask if he's gotten the sunscreen in his eyes. I'm beginning to wonder if my cell signal cut out during the 911 call.
The EMTs arrive. They too ask if The Binkster got any of it in his eyes. Traffic passes as I explain that they may be responding to the wrong call.
But they explain: sunscreen in the eyes can irritate the sensitive lenses, while sunscreen ingested - label to the contrary - poses no immediate danger. So I got that going for me...
So apparently not only is sunscreen a necessary tote-along in the coming days of summer, it's a harm-free snack as well.
Provided the kid's wearing appropriate eye protection, that is...
Chris Stone is a slightly different - hopefully better - Father and man than he was yesterday...