A Coffee Bean: The Gift That Keeps On Giving

This weekend, husband and I ventured out of the house, leaving my almost 14 year old son in charge of his 2 year old triplet siblings.

We were gone the better part of the afternoon without any problems. My phone rang as we pulled into our driveway, though, and it was Bregon.

He was calling to let us know that the kids were inconsolable at the moment.

I assured him that I was at the front door, literally, and would be inside in a second.

From outside, it sounded like I live in a zoo! The kids were squealing and screaming and it sounded like mass chaos.

I fully expected to find Bregon duct-taped and hog-tied in the closet under the stairs, but really, everything was okay.

In all actuality it was about ten minutes past dinner-time and the triplets were just voicing their disdain over my tardiness.

As Bregon and husband tried calming the little people, Bregon decided to share a tiny yet important and rather lucrative tidbit of information with me.

Kaiden had managed to locate, and successfully swallow a COFFEE BEAN!

Apparently, he had thought it must be a chocolate chip like the sno-caps I had fed him at the movie theater the day before.

He must have worked seriously hard on chewing it, too, because he didn't choke at all.

At face value, I was happy that he had swallowed it with no problem and that it wasn't stuck in any orifice and he hadn't managed to choke on it.

After that worrisome feeling subsided, I realized exactly what the connotations were in my toddler having swallowed a coffee bean!

That thing is COFFEE!!! Coffee is a source of CAFFEINE! Two-year olds and caffeine just do NOT MIX!

Aye, that is the harm in swallowing a coffee bean! He may not have choked on it, but my most active and bouncy baby had managed to give himself a shot of coffee for the most part.

He might as well have mainlined it, too, because once I stopped and really took notice, he was bouncing in place, repeatedly.

He didn't stop bouncing, actually. Maybe vibrating was a better word for it, because it is hard to bounce when one is sequestered and tied into one's feeding chair.

He ate faster than he ever had before. He was allowed down to play, and he bounced from place to place, speed playing with everything.

He grabbed his toy truck and pushed it in circles around the dining room table, running behind it as fast as his little feet could carry him.

I thought it wouldn't last very long. Boy oh boy was I wrong about that!

He ran his little self up the stairs to the nursery at bedtime. He wasn't tired, oh no!

He was ready to bounce in his bed! He bounced his bed clear away from the wall.

He even managed to bounce it sideways to where he could reach the light switch and turn it on!

He shared his caffeine with his siblings by keeping them up until midnight. He finally did sleep, but the caffeine affect lingered.

He got up the next day and was bouncy and speedy and hyper. It lasted all day, and into the night AGAIN!

Two days later, and he had just started slowing down. In fact, I still look at him and wonder when that one tiny coffee bean is going to get out of his system!

Last Sunday, I took husband out shopping for a new coffee grinder.

Apparently, his old one had been on the fritz for about a week, and had been slowly grinding itself to pieces from the inside out!

This resulted in the escaping of that elusive, yet very tasty, coffee bean that has caused soo much bounciness in Kai all week.

We have a new grinder now, and I hope that none of my toddlers EVER finds a stray coffee bean again, EVER!

Wow, who would have thought that one tiny coffee bean could do so much damage and last for so long?

That one coffee bean seems like the gift that just keeps on giving. I hope that he calms down soon!