The Miracle of The Tack

©Lisa Barker

My eleven-year old son is given to outrageous temper tantrums and will stop at nothing to up the ante. One day he swallowed a tack to spite me. I showed great concern.

"Why, what will happen?" he asked.

"I just saw a show where this guy was scraping tacks off a ceiling and accidentally swallowed one. Later when he was eating dinner he started throwing up blood." (This is true. It was on one of those medical mystery shows.)

On and off over the next couple of days my son asked what could happen. I didn't think much of it, but my attitude remained unchanged. “It’s would be a pretty stupid thing to do because you can tear your esophagus, puncture a lung or tear your intestines,” I told him.

"What does that mean?"

"It means you will have blood come up out of your mouth or out the ‘other way.’"

I soon discovered that the boy does have a conscience and it worked on him real good for two days until he couldn’t take it anymore and came running to me in a panic. “Momma, I swallowed a tack and I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to be mad, but now I just don’t want to die!”

Something clicked inside my head. Without missing a beat, I said, "No, no! Don't do that! You don't want to tense up, you could cause a tear!" He immediately calmed himself—a miracle.

So my husband and I decided to milk this for a while. As far as my son knew it would take up to two weeks to pass anything. Meanwhile, he was to tell us as soon as he saw any signs of blood from anywhere and no matter what, “DO NOT TENSE UP. Because the tack might catch and tear you somewhere."

He said, "I think I can do that. I don't want to die!"

"Yeah," I said. "You don't want major surgery either."

Now I know it was a calculated risk, but I had questioned him in great detail. It wasn't a pushpin; it was a metal tack that was bent in two. Of course, I panicked inside because if something terrible did happen to him it would all be my fault, yet it was a stupid thing for him to do, and I didn’t want to spend $800 taking him to the emergency room for x-rays for nothing. Sounds terrible, doesn’t it?

So I prayed for his safety and the chance to prove to himself that he can get through life without the histrionics. He made it three weeks. I am calling this the miracle of the tack. God works in mysterious ways.

---------------------------------------------------
Jelly Mom™ is written by Lisa Barker, mother of five and author of "Just Because Your Kids Drive You Insane...Doesn't Mean You Are A Bad Parent!" and is syndicated through Parent To Parent™. To publish Jelly Mom, buy the book or leave comments, please visit http://www.jellymom.com. Sign up for the complimentary Jelly Mom™ weekly newsletter and receive a BONUS GIFT!