No More Head and Shoulders For You Kid

It was an exciting Friday night at the Bandyk household this weekend. Mommy was going to a Pampered Chef Party (her 2nd time out with the girls since Summer was born), and Uncle Joe was coming over to hang out with Daddy to watch his new Blu Ray copies of Discovery Channel's "Planet Earth". Summer had been a frownie brownie the better part of the evening so we decided that a bath and a bottle of milk would calm her down and get her ready for bed.

This was a good plan, but first let me take you back a month....0ur friends were visiting and mentioned that the best way to get rid of the baby acne Summer had was to use Head and Shoulders shampoo every 3rd bath (fyi - the dandruff on a baby's scalp falls onto the cheeks and causes the acne). Who better to listen to than an RN? So we did, and the Head and Shoulders worked beautifully. Thanks Joline!!

However, I accidentally got some in her eyes and mouth and that's when the madness ensued. Summer immediately began whaling, foaming at the mouth, and drooling like a horse. So naturally I start freaking out. I scan the bottle of shampoo for "what if's" and then frantically told Uncle Joe to call Poison Control. As Uncle Joe is on the phone with Poison Control I see the largest collection of bubbles and saliva come out of a humans mouth that I'd ever want to see, and worse, it's my own daughter. So as he's getting the lowdown from Poison Control I'm screaming "call an ambulance"!!! Uncle Joe tells them to send over an ambulance and then calls Mommy to let her know what's happening. Clearly Mommy's coming right home.

So, the ambulance pulls up in the driveway and they run in to assess the situation - Summer's naked, screaming, eye swollen shut, and foaming/bubbling at the mouth. Oh yeah, and Daddy is freaking out. We run through some preliminary info with the EMT's and they do a pretty good job of calming me down. They suction Summers mouth and flush her eye to help get out any remaining shampoo that's in there. Then they hand her over so that I can calm her down and get her settled. Meanwhile, the female EMT asks, "where's the mother, girls night out? First time?". I simply reply "yeah, 2nd girls night out, and now probably her last". We all share a quick laugh, but at the same time realizing it's probably true - either I'm off of bath time duties or Mommy's never the leaving the house again : )

So here's where we're at today (Sunday) - Summer's eye is looking much better. Still a little red and goopy but ten times better than Friday night. She's been quite gassy since ingesting the shampoo but nothing really new there. Daddy's pride is hurt and hopefully the neighbors don't think I'm an idiot. Tiff and I are lucky to have the greatest neighbor's anyone could ever ask for, they were all very concerned when this was going on and have been quick to follow up with us to make sure all is well. Once they see all is well, they all say the same thing, "looks like Tiff isn't leaving the house again" - agreed!! But yeah, picture this, for about 30 minutes while the EMT's are at the house, the lights are still flashing, almost like a beacon in the night saying, "LOOK AT THIS GUY, HE CAN'T EVEN BATHE HIS KID WITHOUT HAVING TO CALL 911". All I can think is "alright guys we get the idea I think we can turn the lights off now, I'm pretty sure we have everyone's attention."

So here's to you Summer: Daddy's very sorry and feels awful. While I'm sure you won't remember this moment in your life, I'm also sure that when you do find out about this, it won't prevent you from blackmailing me into giving you a car for your 16th birthday, and it just might work. I love you Pumpkin!!