The tiny tyrant was given some stickers by her nonna recently. Apparently, she had stashed a couple somewhere in the flat without me realising, and one morning came running up to me:

“Mummy! Owl in my nose!!”

I look inside her nose, and sure enough – there’s a bloody sticker stuck up there! Wedged good and well. I tried getting it out with a few tricks, including the “Mother’s Kiss” maneuver. (Which nearly got it! But then she inhaled it again and it ended up even further in!) In the end, I ended up having to call 111 to ask what we should do. They called us back a few hours later and said to take her to A&E. So off we went.

At A&E she was being really good, letting Dr Will check her nose. But when Dr Will brought out the little tiny hoover they use to suck things out of the noses of tiny tyrants, she wasn’t quite so compliant anymore. We had to wrap her snugly in a blanket and I had to hold her down as she was screaming and crying at the top of her lungs. Harrowing experience, I’ll tell you now. Despite his best efforts, Dr Will couldn’t get the persistent little owl sticker out. Because the tyrant was so upset, she kept inhaling it again as soon as he moved it.

An agreement was reached that we’d go home and return the next day for another attempt. If the attempt failed she would have to be put under general anesthetic to get it out. All for a bloody sticker the size of my nail!

The next morning I checked her nose and thought I saw it. (By the time we left the hospital the previous evening it was so far up her nose you could only glimpse it in certain angles when shining a light.) Once in the hospital we are met by a surgical team, ready to intervene. But a last attempt at getting it out manually is to be made.

What happens?

The doctor looks and looks… and cannot find the sticker!

Most likely she inhaled completely in the end and it ended up in her tummy. There’s a small chance/risk it’s still in there, but so far in we can’t see it (she is itching her nose a bit now and then). If we notice discharge or a weird smell from her nose we’re meant to go back.

So… That was our adventure with the owl sticker. I never want to see another owl sticker in my life.