September 16, 2008

Snakes and Grapes: my dilemma

Kenny, my brother in law, took Ms. Foo, my daughter, out for a walk. They saw bees pollinating flowers. They saw some barking dogs behind a fence. They saw different plants like desert sage and lavender, Spanish broom and cactus. A catafa tree, a hummingbird.
Meanwhile, I am inside with my aunt and sisters. My aunt is telling a horrifyingly funny story about her husband. He picked a bushel of Snake Weed from their yard and boiled a big pot of Snake Weed tea to cure his sinuses because, she says, Snake Weed is a diuretic. Her husband drinks some and he feels a little better, so he says to himself
"If a little does a little good, then a lot ought do a lot of good!" and he drinks the entire large pot of Snake Weed tea which proceeds to dry him up like a dried up old fool. My aunt bulges her eyes and sucks in her cheeks, drawing her shoulders up and her arms in as she imitates him coughing and gagging and completely dehydrated. Ha Ha. We laughed.
Just then, Kenny comes back in from his walk with Ms. Foo. She is clutching a spray of orange flowers and chewing.
"What is she chewing?" I ask. Kenny looks down,
"I think its this flower" he says
"Oh!" says my aunt, "That's the plant I was talking about. That's Snake Weed."

WHAT!!!!! How long has she been chewing? How much did she chew? Is she gonna dry up? Should we go to the emergency room? Give her water! Give her more! Oh my god! Ms. Foo, are you all right? Kenny, I'm never leaving you alone with her again!!!!

Then my sister says,
"Oh, that' ok, when I was with her the other morning, she ate some powder off a morning glory."
And my mother says,
"Yesterday, I was showing her the grape vine and all of a sudden I look at her and she has a little lump in her cheek! She's so fast, she just popped it in her mouth without me noticing!"

I'm never letting anyone take her on walks again. I'm going to put her an a plastic cage and never let her out of the house. I'm going to wrap her in gauze and tape her mouth shut.

Sounds ridiculous, right? But don't tell me, mama's, that you haven't sometimes felt like going to some extreme. How am I suppossed to protect her and let her go at the same time? I know kids eat weird stuff all the time. My husband ate chicken poo when he was two. My grandfather ate a glass bottle when he was nine months old. My little sister ate chalk.
I'm just afraid. I know we all watch her and love her and don't want anything bad to happen to her, but I am afraid. Do I just stop? Stop being afraid and hope for the best? What did you do?

A few minutes later she pooped. She hadn't pooped in two days. She ate the Snake Weed and there it was. Serendipitous if I do say so myself.
Sigh

1 comment: