We had a rough (for me) but exciting (for the kids) morning.  Aaron, Emmie and Owen and I were playing in the back yard.  I had my attention on Owen, helping him try to stand up. I looked over at Aaron and he had something in his hand. It was a syringe. I yell at Aaron to throw it down and he obeys.  I am praising the Lord that the cap was on the needle. 

I took all the kids inside and washed Aaron’s hands up really well.  Then I went back out and using ziplock bags (so I didn’t have to touch it) I put the syringe in a bag.  I called hubby, crying from anger that someone would throw a syringe over our fence. Nevermind that we have small children who pick up anything that looks interesting, and two little ones who still put things in their mouths.   

I called poison control, then made an appointment to take Aaron in to the pediatrician tomorrow afternoon. I’m hoping to get some blood tests done to make sure he hasn’t contracted anything scary. I’m not sure if he opened the syringe and poked himself, but he has a mark on his palm that could be from a needle prick.  But then, he was playing with some wood chips that could just as easily have made a prick mark like that. We’ll see. I’m not overly worried and am praising God for the peace He’s given me.  

I also called the police and had an officer come out to the house to get the syringe.  I was hoping they could fingerprint it and see if they could track down the person responsible for it being in our yard.  But the officer said they reserve fingerprinting for things like murder and burglary.  I then asked if he could send it to a lab and see if there are any diseases present that Aaron could have been exposed to.  He said he would, and took my information so I could be contacted if anything shows up.  He did comfort me in telling me that with hepatitis and HIV, the viruses die soon after coming in contact with air,  even in a matter of hours.  

Aaron was excited that a real policeman came to our house. He spent a while trying to explain to the policeman about how cool his (Aaron’s) boots are.  He was also very fascinated with the officer’s gun.  He told the officer, “The police will throw you in jail if you drive too fast!” Aaron also told him all about the “bad guy syringe” he found.  The officer talked to Aaron about the importance of not touching syringes and that he should instead tell mommy or daddy if he ever finds one again.

It’s been an emotionally charged few weeks for me, but today was the kicker.  I am so ready for a nice peaceful day.

Emmie: “Guess what?”

Mommy: “What?”

Emmie: “I say ‘guess what’.”