Monday, November 19, 2012

Microbiology

Last Friday Frank had a cold, and got sent home from school. My office is near Wingnut Elementary, so during a break in the action I picked him up and put him in the back office with stuff to keep him busy.

Since he had a low grade fever I got some Tylenol out of my desk and had him take it. I asked if he needed a Diet Coke to wash it down, but he said no. He pulled a store bottle of chocolate milk out of his backpack and drank most of it while swallowing them.

Dr. Grumpy: "Did mom buy you that this morning?"

Frank: "No, I traded Matt for it at lunch last week."

Dr. Grumpy: "LAST WEEK?"

Frank: "Don't worry. It's been in my backpack the whole time, and almost always inside."

28 comments:

  1. So uh, any adverse reactions or is this another one of those things that can chalked up to the resiliency of kids?

    And please tell me you explained why week old unrefrigeratored milk is never a good idea...

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  2. "And isn't it cool how it went from being regular to chocolate?"

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  3. ... chocolate cheese?
    Though, there are milks that can stay un-refrigerated for weeks.

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  4. So, Chocolate Kefir, more or less. Probably not as toxic or as nasty as it might sound, fortunately. A bit more modern to shake it around in a backpack though. If I recall, the original idea was to shake it in a skin bag on the back end of your horse till it fermented.

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  5. Its possible its one of those 'shelf' ones that is made with UHT or whatever they call it so it doesn't need to be refrigerated.

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  6. When I was in 5th grade a girl in my class left an open container of milk in her locker for a week. Oh the smell. The evacuated the second floor of the school for 2 hours while they tracked it down and cleaned it.

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  7. No, it most definitely was NOT one of the ones that doesn't require refrigeration.

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  8. what doesn't kill ya, makes you stronger!

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  9. My mother-in-law who grew up in a cabin in Tennessee always said that milk didn't spoil, it just got a "little blinky."

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  10. Did you take any action to prevent further illness? Was he ok?

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  11. My roommate doesn't refrigerate her milk or cheese, and we're in college. How do people DO that? Hope he's all right/feeling better!

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  12. maybe there's a freezer compartment in Frank's backpack?

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  13. Was it really a cold ?
    Was it Hostess Chocolate Milk ?
    Does he have the magic backback ?

    I always wondered about that Ultra Patuerized thing, like Egg Nog shows up on the shelved in November and has a use by date of March.

    The story alone sent me for the immodium. Too funny

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  14. eww eww eww eww eww!!!

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  15. Maybe it was chocolate buttermilk. How do you know when that stuff goes bad, anyway? Same with Sour Cream...

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  16. Wait, I saw this on ATHF. Chocolate milk is better when it's chunky!

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  17. Gak! I'm starting to think Frank goes to school with my kid, who will leave Baby Bel cheese in his backpack for a week. Ick!

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  18. Hey, it is only Monday - last week wasn't that long ago.

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  19. I had a friend who liked to drink warm milk fresh from the cow.

    What's a little warm chocolate cow juice anyway? Evidently palatable to erstwhile Frank? Or, maybe the infection messed with the jillions of so many more tastebuds kids have than adults? At least, that was the reason my kid wouldn't eat certain food items--tasted funny.

    Did it leave its calling card on the way out???

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  20. Gena, only soft cheeses require refrigeration. A semi-soft cheese like Babybel should be fine for a week outside the fridge. I don't know where everyone got the idea that cheese needs to be refrigerated - the whole point of cheese is to preserve the milk.

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  21. My daughter once left a sandwich in her backpack over christmas break.... at least I think it was a sandwich, Kinda looked like potting soil.

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  22. Just reading that made me want to hurl. No ill effects, then?

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  23. I'm thinking yogurt - or gogurt - in liquid form

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  24. Kids are so weird.

    At least once a week I walk away from a conversation with one of mine with an open mouth and shaking my head. I thought that was just part of parenting...

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  25. I feel like the sugar in the chocolate milk might prevent spoiling. White milk goes bad, I've never seen spoiled chocolate milk. Is there any sort of science to back this up? Or is it just that chocolate milk is so delicious that it all goes away before it goes bad?

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  26. you let Frank drink caffeine?!!

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So wadda you think?