Ethan's First Bee Sting

Today Ethan, Owen, Emily, and I joined a group of other moms from our church who also have young children for a trip to the zoo. We had a great time, except for that time just before lunch. I saw it all.


Ethan was running to catch up to me, he was about 20 feet away. I saw the bee coming. I saw the bee fly into Ethan's wide open mouth as he was huffing and puffing. Ethan immediately began to spit and the bee shot out. I quickly squashed the bee and went to Ethan. He was hysterical. I thought it was because he was utterly freaked out, but then I saw his lip bleeding a bit. I looked more closely and saw a little hunk of "bee butt" which I'm assuming was attached to the stinger. I did that scrape thing they always tell you to do to get the stinger out. His poor little lip started swelling immediately.


We got some ice on it and told him we'd go eat lunch. Food seems to have a calming effect for Ethan. By the time lunch was over, he was feeling much much better even though he still had a fairly swollen lip. We finished our zoo trip and came home.


The Terminix guy was in our driveway waiting for us. I nearly forgot that he was coming sometime between 3 and 5 today to help us with the ants. Ethan thought he was here to spray for bees. I'll let him believe that if it will help him not be afraid to play outside.


Actually, two of the boys' buddies came over right away when we were home. Ethan was really excited to tell them all about a bee flying in his mouth and stinging him. Kids think stuff like that is really cool, especially when it doesn't happen to them. I think Ethan was liking the attention and amazement from his friends. I'd rather see him brag about being brave than be too scared to play outside.


Now, I'm just thinking about the countless times I've told the boys that bees do not fly around looking for children to sting. They are looking for flowers and sometimes need to check us out. Once they discover that we are not flowers they go on their way. It was hard for me to help Ethan understand that it was just one of those things, he and the bee clashed and the bee tried to protect itself. I hope Ethan understands.


He's my brave little buddy.