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This past Saturday was the boys and I went to my brother-and-sister-in-law's for my niece's seventh birthday party. They had a pinata there, which is a favorite birthday activity for all of us. The boys came home with goody bags laden with all sorts of candy, luckily all nut-free. We got home fairly late in the evening that night, for little boys at least. Plus, they'd already been sugared up plenty, so I took the candy and put it up.

Then yesterday was Mother's Day. Bryan had to work, so we went over to my mom's where we had a tea party with my mom, stepdad, sisters, my sister's boyfriend, and Bryan's mom. A great time was had by all and in the evening the boys and I returned home.

The boys were filthy from playing outside, so they had a bath. After getting clean jammies on, Caleb asked for a snack. While I toasted them an english muffin, Micah disappeared into his room, where he apparently had stashed some of the birthday candy. He came out with a ring-shaped candy in his mouth, so as a good mom I told him to go sit in his chair. It was big enough that I could probably have slipped it over my own finger. It drives me crazy when they walk around with food in their mouths. This is something we've been working on with Micah, who is fond of stuffing his face full and walking around to do other things.

I went into the kitchen (about eight steps away) to put away the cream cheese and english muffins, but apparently the english muffin looked so good to him, he decided to swallow the candy so he could get started. The only problem is that he hadn't chewed it up yet, which I found out when I heard him crying strangely and ran back to the table.

Next I called 911. He continued to cough, gag, cry, and have thick strings of saliva pour out of his mouth. as I held him and talked to the dispacher. She asked a few questions, and during our brief conversation he stopped coughing and gagging. I asked him if he swallowed it, and he nodded and rested his head on my shoulder. I told the dispacher what happened, but of course once you call and report a problem, they come anyway.

Caleb was the lookout. One ambulace and two pickup trucks* arrived a minute later, parking in our ample driveway. We stepped outside, me with Micah in my arms and Caleb with curiosity on his face. They asked a few questions of me, then asked Micah if he could talk. He replied with a small and raspy yes. One of the paramedics gave each of the boys a teddy bear while another told me that he'd probably have a sore throat for a day or so and to take him to the doctor if he had any further problems.

I closed the door and sighed. *I felt so thankful that we live in a small community (not even a town) with its own fire station with ambulance, on top of dedicated volunteers who are ready in an instant. If he hadn't been able to cough and gag it down on his own, they would've been able to help him so quickly. This is the first time we've ever had to call an ambulance to our home, and hopefully the last.

After much hugging, I tucked the boys into bed with their new teddy bears. When I bend down to give Micah his kiss goodnight, he turned to me and said softly, "Happy Mudder's Day, Mommy."