I was stung by a bee once. Actually, it was on my first date with my now-husband. The darn thing flew inside my shirt and stung my stomach. When I grabbed at my shirt and pulled the bee away from my body, it bit my thumb. Ouch. Hubby was brave then, I don't remember any screaming or running. Good thing too, since we were in his truck, driving down the road.
Today, the weather was near perfect. The temperature was a comfortable 70 degrees, and there was no wind. My family was spending some leisurely time hanging out in the back yard. My three-year old daughter was standing next to me, when she winced and started to cry. Then she started screaming. Her dad and I both tried to figure out what was wrong, and eventually found a bee inside her dress.
The bee sealed his own fate when he stung my little girl. If the act of stinging her was not enough to kill it, Daddy took care of the rest.
Fifteen minutes later, and a few pieces of chocolate too, the pain was going away. Did you know that chocolate has healing powers? It does. But two Hershey's Kisses weren't quite enough, we had to up the dosage to three.
I never would have hoped for my daughter to get stung, but there is a positive way of looking at it. I now know she's not allergic to bees. If it happens again, in a more remote area, I know she will cry, and then probably demand chocolate, but I also know I will not be faced with a medical emergency.
That brings peace of mind to a mother's soul. What more could any mother ask for on Mother's Day?
6 comments:
Not to freak you out ('cause I had the exact same thought when one of my girls was first stung--yay! she's not allergic!), but I recently learned from a friend who grew up on a bee/honey farm that you gradually GET allergic to bees the more you're stung by them.
She was stung more than 10 times as a kid and was fine before getting one final sting that sent her into anaphylactic shock. As an adult, she still has to carry an Epi-pen, just in case. Same thing happened to her mother. (The dangers of living near so many bees!)
Poor girl! We've got nasty hornets out here and I alternate between 'run for your life' and 'kill him dead'.
Annette, I guess it's a good thing that my husband is not a fan of bees. We will never live on a bee/honey farm. :)
That's scary. Thanks for the freak-out! ;)
I'm with you on feeling relieved (although Annette's comment kind of altered that state).
What I appreciate even more about this post is how you turned a semi-ordinary incident into something far more profound. This is a lesson that I will think about for most of the day.
I'm scared of both bees and spiders. My husband won't help me with either - he just laughs, calls me a wimp and tells me to take care of them myself. (That sounds heartless, but he's really not. I secretly think he has a fear as well....) If one hurt one of our children, however, it wouldn't last long. Daddy would come to the rescue.
I'm glad your little girl is feeling better.
I've heard the same thing that Annette said. Scary thought. There seem to be a lot of those yellow jacket bees around our house. I hate them. They're carnivores!
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