Lately, every time we formulate a plan for a fun family getaway, something happens at the last minute to throw a wrench in the works. Whether it’s weather or inopportune illness, we just can’t seem to break free. Sometimes it feels like we’re simply stuck. So it was comical this past weekend, as we were preparing to leave for the Bahamas (weather permitting), one of our children accidently swallowed the pull tab from a Sprite at the local tiki hut/burger joint. At first I thought he was joking (this kid is real practical joker). The good news was that he didn’t choke. The bad news was that we couldn’t go offshore with a piece of metal lodged somewhere in our son’s digestive tract. What to do?

It seemed premature to get an x-ray or plan abdominal surgery, so we decided to wait. We looked it up online and figured at least a 36-48 hour wait, assuming the thing wasn’t wedged in there somewhere. Then there was the blue-glove task at hand (lucky kid!)—we jokingly called him the gong-farmer (look that one up). We had him swallow some pieces of crayon as a marker that would help us gauge how long things were taking to pass. He has a champion system, that kid. He dug for buried treasure today and came up lucky. A friend suggested he wear the tab on a necklace. Whether he keeps it or not, the memory and the jests at his expense are his forever. Barring any other mishaps, we should be moving smoothly again soon.