Thursday, September 18, 2008

Choking Hazard...

Ellie has been very good about not putting things in her mouth for some time now. But recently she has started putting things in her mouth and chewing on them again, most likely as a result of her incoming molars. The other day when we were in the car I looked back and saw that she was chewing on something that she shouldn't be. I asked what she had in her mouth and she showed me. I told her to take it out of her mouth, that it wasn't food, so it didn't belong there, that she could choke on it. And so I began teaching her about choking hazards.

The next night I was relaying the story to Leif, so that he would know that I taught her what a choking hazard was and that she should know not to put anything that is not food in her mouth. And as I was relaying the story, here's what transpired:

Elizabeth: I taught Ellie what a choking hazard is yesterday.
Leif: That's good. What did you tell her?
Elizabeth: I told her that "If it's not food, and it's in your mouth, it's a choking hazard." (I was pretty proud of this definition, too, because I'd taken the time to think it through.)
Ellie: (With a fork hanging out of her mouth and a big ol' grin on her face) This fork is a choking hazard!

We cracked up immediately, which she didn't appreciate since she thought we were laughing at her. She responded by exclaiming, "Stop being funny, guys! Stop being funny!" and eventually we stifled the laughter.

So much for my well thought out definition, and so much for talking around Ellie without her taking note of what we're saying....



3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Back at Mobberly, in one of our training seminars, the speaker was teaching us about choking hazards. We decorated empty toilet paper rolls, and she told us this: Anything that WILL fit into there CAN choke a child. But, not everything that CAN fit in there WILL choke them...lol. That has stuck with me for about ten yrs! There's a little craft for my Ellie Mae.. .

Ivymamma said...

I love her humor!

We have a mantra in our house...

What belongs in our mouths?
Only food and toothbrushes.

That way fingers are included on the not in the mouth list!

And clothing...
And paper...

Susan Beth said...

Don't you know, its not nice to laugh at your incredibly smart daughter! She's right. And my instant thought was two year molars to inspire her to put things in her mouth again.