A lady friend was visiting with me and her four year old daughter was with her. We were in the living room talking and her girl asked if she could have some fruit. I thought nothing of it when my friend nodded yes so I told her daughter to have as much as she wanted of the fruit in the crisper drawer at the bottom of the refrigerator.
A half hour later my lady friend got up to make some coffee and called to me, "Steve, what do you have in your crisper?" Not thinking I said just some fruit. "You have to come here and see what my girl has gotten into."
When I walked into the kitchen I saw a large canister of prunes open on the table. I could not remember how much had been in the canister but it was half empty now.
My friend was smiling as I sat at the table and asked her little girl if she liked the fruit she was eating. "It tastes funny but I like it because it is chewy." she told me.
I glanced at my friend again and then turned to her daughter and asked "How many of these have you eaten?" She smiled and pointed to the side of the canister and said it had been up to her finger when she started. "I think that you have had enough for now," I said, covering the canister.
"Can I have some more the next time I visit?" the four year old asked completely sincerely.
"Sure," I told her, now come to the living room with your mother and watch the TV while we have our coffee. My lady friend sat on the sofa near me so we could talk quietly while her daughter watched cartoons. "You know that she is going to have a little reaction to that many prunes, don't you?"'
My friend laughed and said "No harm done, we will be home for the rest of the day and my daughter will be busy and out of my hair. How long do you think it will take for the prunes to kick in?
"Since she was drinking water with the prunes I would guess about two hours, maybe less. I think it is best if she is home where she knows how to use the potty."
I got a call later that day from my lady friend. "My daughter is back in the bathroom for the fourth time. Actually I'm glad she ate the prunes; she was constipated and I thought I would have to give her a suppository or an enema but that won't be needed now. I'll call you later and you can tell me how many prunes she can have for just a "normal" reaction."