Be careful what you wish for.

Just when I think,”Hmmm, I don’t really have any news to BLOG about…” I get to make my first ever call to the Washington State Poison Control line. Yep, it was Zachary; no big shocker there. He’d found my small container of Petroleum Jelly Vaseline (that I use for nighttime lip moisturization purposes) and helped himself to some. The container was inside the drawer of my bedside table. I’m still not sure how he managed to get the drawer open (it’s pretty tricky), but then it seems that he popped off the Vaseline lid no problem. I was fairly certain that he didn’t actually eat much of the goo but figured that it wouldn’t hurt to call Poison Control anyway.

The Poison Control lady was awesome! She was so nice and very clear on instructions and wanted me to call back after four hours just to check in. (They actually called us after about 3 ½ hours – that’s how on top of things they are)! The main concern with Vaseline is that if a lot is consumed (which, thankfully, in our situation wasn’t the case) it can get stuck in the lungs making it difficult to breathe. Zach showed no signs of that. Petroleum Jelly can also act as a laxative, so there’s a chance that up to three days after consumption, diarrhea can occur. So far, no runny poos here.

Poison Control Lady asked what we’d done after we discovered Zach snacking on Vaseline. I told her that I wiped him down thoroughly and scolded Matthew for not telling us that Zachy had been making a bad choice. (In fact, I had heard Matthew laughing and egging him on…never a good sign. I should always check right away if Matthew thinks Zach is being funny – that’s usually a sign of Martin boy mischief). She laughed and said, “Sometimes you just have a kid who is way more inquisitive and likely to get into stuff. I have four children, and one of them got into everything. I started working here around his first birthday. I had to call into work all the time. I’d say, ‘Hey, it’s Katie.’ And they’d say, ‘Ahh, so what did he eat this time?’ The good news is that he’s 16 now, so he survived…of course, now he can drive...”

I was so impressed with the Poison Control line people, but I never want to talk to them ever again. (I have a feeling that I should probably just put them on speed dial).