Carrots

I was just reminded of this incident—one of those moments when you realise how quickly things can go wrong, in the snap of a finger.

Zoey, you were sick with some kind of stomach bug, and your mom was at work. I can’t remember exactly how old you were, but you were still in diapers, and we were living in our current house. My guess is you were about two.

It was one of those stressful days where everything felt heavy, though I can’t even remember why anymore. I made you lunch, and afterward, you wanted some baby carrots. So, I put a few in a dish for you. You sat on the couch eating while I decided to tackle the dishes in the sink—something to keep busy and get the mess under control.

I might have been gone for two minutes. When I came back, you looked at me and said, “I have a carrot stuck in my nose.”

I laughed. You didn’t.

You kept repeating it, and I realised this wasn’t a joke. You were already sick, sniffling oddly, and now you were upset. I ended up calling your mom.

“Hey, Zoey keeps saying there’s a carrot stuck in her nose,” I told her.

“A carrot?” she asked, incredulous.

“Yeah. I don’t know what to do.”

Your mom left work early and came home to check things out. She knelt down to examine your nose while I stood nearby, still half-convinced that this was just a misunderstanding.

“There’s no way there’s actually a carrot up there,” I said.

“There is,” she replied.

“What?”

Somehow, in the two minutes I was gone, you’d managed to bite off a piece of carrot and lodge the rest so far up your nose that we couldn’t get it out. I couldn’t believe it.

We tried everything. Your mom and I pinned you down, trying to retrieve it while you screamed bloody murder. But it was no use.

“We’re going to have to go to the hospital,” your mom finally said.

This was still during COVID-19 times, and only one parent was allowed into the hospital. Your mom went with you while Lukas and I went to McDonald’s for a quick bite to eat.

When I picked you both up afterward, your mom told me the nurses had laughed about it. They’d gotten the carrot out, no problem, and found the whole situation amusing.

I didn’t.

You were so young, and I was still doubting myself as a good father. And now, on my watch, you’d jammed a carrot up your nose.

On the drive home, I was silent.