I had this saying come across my Facebook feed not too

long ago, and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

See, we have been dealing with some drama we never

would have even imagined we’d be dealing with.  Now, a couple

weeks later, I feel like I can tell the story as more of a public service

announcement.

My parents and I took the kids to see A Christmas Story at the 5th Avenue

Theater a few weeks ago in Seattle.  It was the final dress rehearsal so we

had some waiting to do.  It was cold and there is a big covered area and

the kids were sitting just to the side of us playing with dice they had

brought when one said, “Mom, look what we found” as he held up

a dirty hypodermic needle.  My heart skipped a beat or two and as calmly

as I could I took the needle away from him.  I went up to the box

office to have them dispose of it and had to wait for security to be called

(because nobody wants to touch a dirty needle!).  I took a minute to talk to

the kids about needle safety, which I assumed they knew since we had a

diabetic foster child with daily injections but clearly not enough because they

had picked it up.

We went into the theater and it was inside that I learned that one of the boys

had poked his finger with the needle just to see how sharp it was.  Really!?

Panic struck and I spend the majority of the show texting Dee to call the

pediatrician and another friend who was googling info on what we needed to

do.  We made a dr appt for the next morning.  At the dr there was a blood draw

and talk about concerns of Hep C, making sure his Hep B vaccination was current

and if we needed to start any anti-HIV medications.  Scary stuff.

Round one of blood tests was negative, but have to be repeated every 6 weeks

for the next 6 months. 

In my 42 years I have never found a hypodermic needle.  I never would have

thought to have a conversation with my kids about what to do if they found one.

I wish I had.  I hope you talk with your kids.