Breaking a Thermometer as a Kid

Did anyone ever break a rectal thermometer as a kid? I broke several. For some reason, mom had three or four rectal thermometers even though she didn’t take our RTs past age six. I used to play with them as a pre-adolescent and teen. Once, I foolishly cleaned one under hot water and the mercury expanded to a point the thermometer broke. Another time I dropped one on the breakfast room floor. It was a “universal” model and was being used orally. I had another one hidden under junk in my closet for so long that I didn’t feel safe returning it to the medicine cabinet so I buried it in the woods. Maybe a 25th century archeologist will find it and wonder what the hell we were doing in the 20th century. If mom ever missed the thermometers, she never said anything.

I broke one back in the seventies, but in an unusual way, hahaha. It was a mercury or alcohol one.

I was not in the mood to go to school one day so I had to come up with an excuse.

Okay, I'll play sick and to prove it I took my temperature. And then I encountered another problem; how to get the temperature up !?

Aha, of course, with a lighter!

I must have been very sick coz the thermometer blew into a thousand pieces! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

The result was of course very predictable, after some spanking back to school! Hahaha....

I am likely to expel the thermometer if I am standing whether leaning over or not. I will automatically begin to clench causing the thermometer to slip and expel. I must hold onto it or it's going to slip out and happen quickly. When the nurse has held onto it, it will slip but she can then readjust it with more twisting, which is another reminder of who is in charge!

Never as a kid.

My mom accidentally broke our rectal thermometer, while shaking it down in the bathroom. Within the hour, it had been replaced with a new one, and a spare one as well.

You mean, did I break it in my butt?

No, I did not break one. If I had I would have been in real trouble

I did once no big deal

I did break an old thermometer once although I don’t recall if it was a rectal thermometer or not. I was probably about 12 and when I pulled something out of the downstairs medicine cabinet I accidentally knocked out a glass thermometer that promptly shattered and got mercury on the floor. I called my dad over for help and asked what the weird grey stuff in the thermometer was so then he taught me about mercury before we cleaned up. My parents weren’t angry or anything since it was a genuine accident and we never really used that thermometer anymore since we had digital ones.

I did it twice. Once I just dropped one of the floor and it broke. I then started playing with the mercury. I thought it was cool how it just beaded up and rolled. I was around 5 if I remember right. Mom was in the kitchen and dad was outside BBQing. I needed to toilet tissue and I went in the medicine closet. The tissue was way in the back. I saw the thermometer and took it out to look at it. I heard something and I laid it down. Then I reached for the tissue and that is when it fell. Then sis walked in and yelled for mom. It was no big deal back then. Mom wiped it up and threw it away.

The second time I was older and was cleaning the thermometer with just the hot water and it popped. That all went down the sink. I took the parts I could grab and threw them in the trash under other trash.

Not as a kid, but as an adult, I’ve sadly broken a few of my favorite rectal thermometers over the years. It’s usually been caused by losing my grip, when shaking it down.

How did you break these thermometers? When I was using one, I was rolled on my side over my bed.

I think mom broke one mercury thermometer when I was a kid and it was a mess to clean up.

Luckily I never did but I always shake down over carpet or bed.

It broke in my butt once.

I never broke a thermometer as a kid

@Walpers I would love to hear more. It makes me think of that one Baby Blues episode.

@fantasypatient Isn't it really annoying to pick up the mercury, as it does not wet and thus cannot be absorbed by cloth?

I broke one when I was about 12. I had been playing with it and washed it under hot water not realizing the mercury would expand to a point that it broke the thermometer. I hid it in the trash and I don't think my mother realized it was gone. We had several, although she never used them on use after age six or so.

I break a oral thermometer, than my mother go back to take my rectal temperature.

@fantasypatient Isn't it really annoying to pick up the mercury, as it does not wet and thus cannot be absorbed by cloth?

@Jacana if I recall correctly my dad sort of scooped it up with some index cards or something similar. And then threw it out or disposed of it however you properly do that.

This happened to me once as a teenager. I was going to take my own temperature, and as I was shaking down the thermometer it slipped out of my hands and landed on the floor broken. It was a mess to clean up, and after that, I went to a pharmacy and bought a new one. I slipped it back into the original black case and nobody ever found out. From then on I shook it down over the bed to avoid future accidents.