Lost in Laundry

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

My mind is consumed today with a splinter. A moderately sized splinter that has absolutely embedded itself into Ryan's hand. I can't even tell which end of the splinter to try and go at with tweezers (or, horror of horrors a needle).

Ryan screams in dramatic pain when I try and look at it, let alone touch it. I've been online looking up "splinter removal", and there are some pretty crazy suggestions. (Can you imagine Ryan's reaction if I went after his hand with an Exacto Knife?)

So far I've let him take a long, long bath and let his hands get nice and pruny and soft, thinking it would come out easier. I've also been soaking his hand in warm water with baking soda (another internet suggestion). No luck so far, but the website said to try the soaking method a few times a day and the splinter may work itself out. I also read to cover the splinter with a paste made out of water and baking soda, then cover with a band-aid. We may try that at nap time today.

Let's all hope for the best. I don't have a steady enough hand to come at a screaming, writhing four year old with an Exacto Knife. It's bugging me to no end to know it's there, and I haven't been able to get it out, or even make a valiant effort because of Ryan's dramatic (although possibly justified) reaction....

Click on the picture if you would like to examine the object of our frustration more closely.

Update: We conquered the splinter! In the end, it was good ol' bribery that did the trick. I put the boys down for nap, and when Dylan fell asleep I went back in and got Ryan. I told him he could skip nap, stay up and watch SpongeBob Squarepants, and eat some of his Valentine's Day candy if he would sit quietly and let me get out the splinter. That pretty much did the trick! SpongeBob and FunDip proved to be enough incentive for him to withstand the dreaded needle with just a few little whimpers.

permalink | posted by Starr at 1:51 PM

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