The Sliver

One day at work last week, I received a call from daycare.  When I see my phone ring and the caller ID is daycare, it is never a good sign.  It means that something is wrong. So I always answer the phone with trepidation- It normally means that Marcus needs to be picked up and the plans for the rest of the day are about to completely change.

I answered the phone and the first thing the teacher on the other end said "Don't worry, Marcus isn't sick".   I instantly felt a bit but I knew that a BUT was about to come up, they wouldn't be calling me otherwise. The bad news came quickly "Marcus has a sliver".  Well my first thought was "OK and"..... I quickly learned that due to liability reasons our daycare cannot remove slivers because it is considered invasive and therefore their insurance does not allow it.

I felt a bit annoyed but I really do get it (unfortunately) and we live in a highly litigious society and they are creating policies to decrease risk.  Anyway, the choice was leave the sliver in Marcus's hand (and the teacher said it was bothering him) for the rest of the day or drive home over lunch (and take a long lunch) and go remove the sliver.

I decided to go and remove the sliver.  It is about 25 miles each way and I had to pick up a tweezers on the way (they didn't have one at daycare).  I also grabbed a needle (just in case), TMNT Band-aids, and chocolate treat to keep him occupied during the sliver removal process.

I finally made it to daycare about 1 hour after the call and safely removed the sliver.  It was actually a pretty big sliver and he was much happier with it out of his hand!  Marcus was not very happy that he had to stay at daycare and Mommy went back to work.

This is just a taste of what it is like to be a modern Mommy and balance life and work.  I don't always have the luxury of easily balancing both.  This is actually one of the good things about my job- I work at a consulting firm- and they are fine with me handling family matters when it comes up.  That makes life a whole lot easier (and I think everyone was giggling about my sliver trip).

The sliver with a pen for comparison

The best part of the trip (only maybe the only good part) is that I got a hug and a kiss from Marcus AND I got to be his hero.  At least for now, he knows that Mommy will save the day when needed!