Ignorance Is Not The Best Medicine

(My husband and I call our usual babysitter, his sister-in-law, over to babysit our toddler while we go for a night out. We recently discovered that our daughter has an allergy to ibuprofen that results in a severe rash and swelling. We remind SIL about this allergy before we leave, but as we are leaving dinner and on our way to a movie, we receive this phone call.)

Sister-In-Law: “You should probably come home. [Daughter] isn’t looking so great.”

Me: “Why? What’s wrong? Did she get sick?”

Sister-In-Law: “Well, she was running a fever, and now she has a really bad rash and her eyes are nearly swollen shut.”

Me: “That sounds like an allergic reaction. Did you give her any medicine?”

Sister-In-Law: “After I checked her temperature I gave her some [Name-Brand Ibuprofen] to help her fever.”

Me: *knowing we don’t have any [Name-Brand Ibuprofen] in the house* “Where did you get it? You know that has ibuprofen in it, right?”

Sister-In-Law: “I noticed all you had was [Name-Brand Acetaminophen] and that doesn’t work as well as [Name-Brand Ibuprofen], so I went to the drugstore and got some. I thought it would be okay because it’s [Name-Brand Ibuprofen], not ibuprofen.”

(I stop, rather upset, and take a deep breath.)

Me: “We’ll be home in ten minutes. Give her some of the [Antihistamine] in the cabinet.”

(My husband and I gave her quite an earful about checking the ingredients of drugs before giving them to a child. The antihistamine worked as it should, so our daughter was fine, but we’re not planning to let our sister-in-law babysit again for a while!)