Little Eliza Doolittle

Aden found a tiny marble on the floor of a craft store earlier this week and wanted to keep it. Danielle was terribly upset she didn't have one too, so I told her I would get her a marble of her own when we got home. I gave her a small glass pebble from the vase of a floral arrangement I had been making. She seemed perfectly content with that arrangement.

Yesterday morning she wanted to take her "marble" to daycare. The marble had to stay in the van instead. As soon as she got back into the van she immediately wanted her marble back. We got home and the kids started watching TV, Scott was fixing dinner, and I was in the office. And all was calm for a while… until Danielle started crying. I thought to myself, "What now?" Either Aden was picking on her or she instigated something and he's retaliating.

Danielle was wailing at the office doorway, announcing, "I swallowed it!" I knew immediately what she was referring to, and since she was whining and crying, I knew she was in no real danger. I had to hold back the chuckle because the very first image that passed through my mind at that point was a scene from my favorite movie My Fair Lady when Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn) announces to Professor Higgins (Rex Harrison), "I think I swallowed one."

I took her into the kitchen for some water trying not to laugh at her distress. After she had a drink she said, "Mommy can you get it?" "No honey, I can't get it… you're just going to have to poop it out," I said. She seemed rather mortified at the answer and started crying louder because I couldn't fix this for her. I gave her some more water and she calmed down a bit. Her next question was, "Mommy, can I have another marble?" "No sweetheart, you can't – you didn't take care of the last one I gave you. I'm not giving you another one," I told her.

Just to assure all of you I'm not a horrible mother: The diameter of the "marble" is slightly more than 1/4 inch at the widest point, and she's completely fine. This too shall pass. (Sorry, kinda hard to resist that pun.)