Quick! Before I forget.

What do you think this is? Is it some new fangled crochet hook? The latest and greatest scrapbooking tool? Perhaps it's some ancient far eastern tool to help with those pesky crows' feet around the eyes. Nope. That little green ball at the end of the stick is what the ER doctor had to fish out of Caleb's ear back in March.

One night as I was getting ready to take a shower, Caleb knocked on my bathroom door.

"Mom, um, I think I might need your help."

"Caleb, I tucked you in forty five minutes ago. How come you're still awake?"

Caleb has always been one who didn't like to impose on anyone so he quickly said, "Never mind. I'll wait for you to be done with your shower." By then, I could hear that he was holding back tears and he was starting to sound really scared.

I quickly came out and asked him what was wrong. "Do you remember that green ball I found at school? It's stuck in my ear and I can't get it out."

I looked in his ear. Yup, there was a little green ball stuck deep in his ear alright. "How did it get there Caleb?"

"I was lying in bed and I was holding it next to my ear and it kind of rolled in," he said innocently. Uh huh, it just rolled into his ear and nestled right next to his eardrum on its own.

"Why did you do that?" I asked. He then answered with the statement that I think children are required by law to say to their parents at least 5000 times a year.

"I don't know."

By then the rest of the family was aware of his predicament and we all were starting to get a little worked up. Brad and I tried to get it out while "discussing" the best method to do it; Rachel kept saying, "Why Cabes, why did you do it?"; and Emma was wondering out loud if he could still hear out of his ear.

That's when I called the nurse on one of those 24 hour hotlines. She told me that we should get it removed within the next six hours so it doesn't get infected. We should also NOT try to remove it ourselves. Ooops.

Caleb was pretty worried about getting a shot. Brad explained to him that they would try to flush the ball out with water or maybe try to suction it out. After Caleb calmed down, we decided that it would be best if I took Caleb to the hospital and Brad stay home with the girls. Dang! I was hoping to go to bed early that night.

Since Brad had allayed his fears about shots and he wasn't in any pain, Caleb was actually really excited to go to the hospital. He was skipping and humming as we went into the ER.

After checking in and having his temperature and blood pressure taken, we were lead into the curtained examination table. While we were waiting for the doctor, I could hear the nurses at the front desk talking about the little boy who stuck a bead in his ear. Then they started talking about all the other kids they knew that stuck various and sundry things in any available openings in their head. "Yeah, I had a nephew once stick a sponge up his nose so far that they didn't know about it until he started smelling really bad. . ." I played I spy with Caleb to keep us occupied.

The doctor came in and looked in his ear. She told us that it was wedged really deep in his ear and that it would be difficult to get out. Ominous words, for sure.

She tried a pair of tweezers. No go. She tried a more narrow pair of tweezers. No luck. She tried suctioning it out. The ball didn't even budge. She then remembered that she once saw another doctor remove something out of an ear by sticking a paper clip dipped in super glue in the ear and attaching it to the foreign object. After the glue set, voila! Object removed, child happy. She left to get a paper clip.

I could tell something was bothering Caleb. He held my hand and said very quietly, "Mom, what if they stick the paper clip in my ear and it gets stuck and stays in my ear forever?"

I laughed out loud. "Well then, sweetie, we'll just have to stick another paper clip in the other ear so that both sides will match and you'll be even." We both laughed at that image and Caleb pictured himself going to college with paper clips in his ears. I drew an image of him walking down the aisle with freshly polished paper clips gleaming in the light.

When the doctor came in with a straightened paper clip and packs of Dermabond, we were ready to roll. She dipped the paper clip in the glue and stuck it in his ear. We held our breath as we waited for it to set. She pulled and out came--the paper clip. Aaagh! It didn't work.

Caleb is such a brave boy. During all the procedures, he held still and he was very cooperative. I was holding his hand the whole time and a couple of nurses there that were ready to hold him down if necessary. It wasn't. He's such a trooper! After all the failed attempts however, the inside of his ear was really irritated and probably scratched too. As soon as some of the glue hit his skin, he started to cry. His poor ear was bright red.

The doctor brought in one of those ear hooks they use to clean the inside of ears. She covered the end with glue and tried again. By now, I was holding Caleb's hand tightly and making sure he was looking into my eyes. The nurses were holding him down, one was holding his head and the other was holding his body down. Tears were streaming out of his eyes and he was quietly saying "Ow." We were all speaking words of encouragement to Caleb. Who was speaking words of encouragement to me?

The doctor held the hook in his ear for a minute and waited for it to set. It seemed more like ten minutes to me. Then she pulled. Out came the hook and the hook only. Okay, now it's officially getting old. She found another hook with a slightly larger head and tried again. With baited breath, we waited for what seemed like and eternity. When she pulled the hook out, it came out with the ball firmly attached! I swear I heard a popping sound. There was loud cheering and a lot of clapping from the nurses, doctor and me. Caleb just lay there looking extremely relieved.

After the requisite paperwork and a round of hearty thank yous from both patient and mother, we headed home at 12:30. Caleb was very excited to call his dad to tell him all the details.

The doctor showed him the ball that was glued to the hook, put it in a Ziploc bag and handed it to him. She told him that he now had a cool thing to take for show and tell and to never put anything smaller than his elbow in his ear. He never took it to show and tell and I'm confident he'll never stick anything in his ear again.