An Expensive Bag of Nuts

Monday, as I waited for a flight in the Palm Springs airport, I was starting to get a little hungry. So, I thought I'd grab a snack for the flight. I headed over to the closest kiosk and grabbed a tiny little pathetic looking sandwich wrapped in plastic wrap. Maybe I haven't been eating in airports enough lately, but I was stunned when the girl behind the counter told me it would be $9.50. WHAT?! I'd expect to pay that much for a Wolfgang Puck airport sandwich, but this one? No way! In protest, I put the sandwich back and went to the kiosk next door for a $4 bag of nuts. This is where all the fun begins!

Normally, I just choose plain nuts, but the trail mix with M&Ms suited me this day. So off I went to catch my flight with my bag of mixed nuts/M&Ms/raisins.

I didn't finish the bag on my flight, and came home with 1/2 a bag of trail mix in my purse. On Wednesday night Ethan discovered the bag and thought the M&Ms were Skittles, so he secretly snuck a snack from the bag. My dairy allergic kid quickly realized he'd just bit into chocolate and spit out the M&M. Still feeling the urge to snack, he next decided to be adventurous and try a cool curvy looking cashew. Within seconds he was complaining that it was so so "spicy" and his mouth was burning. Unfortunately he'd already swallowed the nut. His throat started to get scratchy and he started to get scared as he began having an anaphylactic reaction.

Thank goodness we live just a few blocks from the hospital. I whisked my coughing/wheezing little guy off to the ER as I called a neighbor to pick-up Isaac from baseball practice and called off my other responsibilities for Young Women's at church that night.

An hour later Ethan had an IV and was pumped full of Epinephrine, Benadryl and steroids and was breathing much better. Just when we thought we'd be going home soon, he started to break out in hives. What? I couldn't believe he could break out in hives with all the drugs that were pumping through his little veins. The rash got continually worse until the nurse had to give him another shot of Epinephrine.

The hives decided to be stubborn, and wouldn't clear up. So, the doctor admitted Ethan to the hospital for overnight observation. Since Brent was traveling for work, I called upon my wonderful neighbors who swooped in to take over Morgan and Isaac for the night.

By the time we got to the pediatric wing the rash was finally clearing and Ethan looked much better. Ethan loved sleeping in the hospital. Some of the highlights were the stuffed monkeys he was given, the cranes doing construction work right outside the window, fruit loops for breakfast, and the buttons to move the bed up and down. Truthfully, we had a pretty fun time together at the hospital...we didn't get much rest, but then again, isn't that a sign of a great slumber party?

As we were leaving the hospital at 11:00 the next morning Ethan said, "Mom, I liked sleeping at that place, I want to eat one of those nuts again sometime so we can sleep there again." Needless to say we had a little chat about that.

In the end, I think the sandwich would have been the more economical option. I initially saved $4.50 by going with the less expensive bag of nuts. I think that bag will end up costing more than another flight would have cost. Bummer!