“‘ear today ……”

Last week Joseph had an appointment with the ENT consultant who has been treating him since he was very little. He’s very friendly, he doesn’t rush us out the door, he answers any questions we have and generally makes us feel happy about what is going on.

Before the actual appointment, J had an ear test to see how his hearing has been doing and so, he sits with a very kind lady who plops an enormous and antiquated pair of headphones that look like they were last used during the war out in ‘the field’. The look of concentration on his face was a picture, occasionally looking up through his eyebrows to see if we were looking at him which of course, we were.

Anyway, it was just a routine follow up appointment and he wanted to have a look at the grommets that he had put in 18 months previously (read all about it here) and lo and behold, one of the grommets decides to pop out right there and then. Mr Consultant is pleased about the length of time they have stayed in and is in no rush to put another one in.

As he is talking to us, he reaches up, takes down a specimen pot, unscrews the lid and drops the grommet inside. As the conversation comes to a close, he hands Joseph the pot and says, “there you go. Pop that under the pillow tonight and see if the ear fairy stops in at your house while you sleep”.

Excuse me? Did you say, the “ear” fairy??

I never even knew there was an ear fairy but apparently I’m wrong. Won’t children that DON’T have grommets get …… oh, I don’t know ……. ear envy?

Well, Joseph (naturally) seemed excited by the idea of adding to his ever increasing money box and held the pot tightly.

As it happens, the pot got mislaid until this morning so we will see if there really is an ear fairy tonight.

I have my doubts though.

On a far funnier note, whilst making Joseph’s bed at the weekend, I picked up his pillow to give it a good ‘plumping’ and saw two little dark “things” where his pillow was. Upon closer inspection, they appeared to be two rather old nasal crustaceans. Bogies to you and me.

I half laughed and called him in.

“What are these?” I ask.

He frowns at them, giving them a genuine close up look, before shrugging. “I don’t know”.

“They look like boogers to me. Wouldn’t you agree?”

He nods.

“I found them under your pillow. Have you been picking your nose and putting them under your pillow?”

“No”, he replies, a little too indignantly for him to be lying.

“Well how did they get there then?” I ask, smiling down at him.

As quick as a flash he said, “maybe the Bogeyman put them there”.

I often mention my children’s ability to reduce me to a useless laughing wreck and I am happy to report that this was another one of those times. Perhaps if he wasn’t being so serious it wouldn’t have been so funny but I think he genuinely meant it.

“Touché Poops, touché”.