Alternative Parental Remedy: Toddler Trouble and a Lost Bean

Toddler Trouble and a Bean (FNImage)

 

The Bean in His Nose: A Lesson in Calm Parenting

It was a quiet Saturday afternoon. I had carved out a little “mummy time” to catch up on work before the week began. Laptop open, thoughts focused—I was in my zone.

Then came a tiny voice. “My nose,” said my two-year-old.

He had left his sister in the kitchen to come find me in the study. Still distracted, I smiled quickly and said, “Yes, that’s your nose. What other body parts do you know, darling?”

But he didn’t smile back. I could almost see the gears turning in his little head: She’s not getting it.

He turned around and went to find his dad in the living room. But Dad was on a phone call, barely noticing the pint-sized interruption. So my determined toddler circled back to me.

This time, he took my hand and pressed it to his face. That got my attention. I shut my laptop and gave him my full focus.

“Show Mummy your ears… your eyebrows…” I coaxed.

He cut me off, more urgent now. “Mummy, nose!” he said, this time with more emotion. Then he jammed his pinkie finger up his nostril.

Alarm bells went off.

I gently tilted his head and looked. He had just recovered from a cold, so I expected the usual congestion. But instead of inflamed pink flesh, I saw a bright red—almost orange—bulge deep in his nose.

That was not mucus.

Panic rising, I scooped him up and headed to the living room, where the lighting was better. I motioned to my husband. “I think there’s something stuck up his nose.”

He peered in. “Looks like… a tomato?”

“No,” I said. “It’s too dark.” Then it hit me.

Beans.

My daughter had been picking a bowl of beans while babysitting him. “Oh my goodness! He’s shoved a bean up his nose!”

I started frantically looking for the car keys. We had to go to the ER.

“Are you sure you can’t get it out with tweezers?” my husband asked.

“Tweezers?! What if I push it further up? What if I puncture something? You do it! Wait—Google it!”

By now, my three teenage girls had gathered, each one pointing fingers at the other for not watching him closely enough. It was chaos.

I sat back down, toddler squirming on my lap, and turned to Google. Thousands of posts popped up. Apparently, this was a very common toddler trick.

Nasal aspirators came up, but one word stood out: Water. I asked for water.

“We could force it out with air,” my husband suggested.

“How would we even know how much air is safe?” I asked. My anxiety was rising again.

Meanwhile, my son, completely unfazed by our escalating concern, had wriggled free from my grip and shoved his finger back up his nose.

“Stop!” I yelled and instinctively smacked his bottom.

The look on his face melted me. He burst into tears, wailing loud and long—more from shock than pain.

And then, like a miracle… Pop!
Out came the culprit—a single shiny red bean.

For a second, we all froze.

Then came laughter. Loud, relieved, tearful laughter from every corner of the room.

I picked him up and hugged him close. “Next time you do that,” I whispered in his ear with a smile, “I’ll know exactly how to fix it.”

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