Dear Matthew, Toby and Josie,
Well unfortunately we didn't have the nicest Christmas Eve this year. In typical 2020 fashion, you all (and your dad) have been sick with a cough (not the 'rona thankfully) but it meant half of our plans for Christmas got cancelled (your cousins weren't keen on catching it, but your Ma Ma and Gumps had already seen you earlier in the week so figured they'd been exposed and would have caught it already anyway). So we were already down in the dumps a bit, so decided to head out in the evening of Christmas Eve for a family walk. We headed down the street and dropped off presents at our neighbours house (Barbara, Barrie and their dog Cosmos), and then headed up to the oval around the corner like we usually do, on your scooters for a play at the playground.
This is when things went very awry. All of a sudden Tobes, you started screaming and thrashing your arms around. I abandoned Josie in the pram and ran over to you, thinking you may have sat in an ants nest (after being badly bitten at Araluen earlier in the year myself by a horrid ant). However once I had reached you, I reaslied you were actually being stung over and over by a swarm of bees. I quickly picked you up, and while trying to hit away the bees, I sprinted down the oval with you in my arms in an attempt to get you away from the hive. We literally ran half the length of the massive oval and they just kept coming back to get you, I couldn't believe it. We eventually got them all off you (somehow Matt, the little boy you had been playing with and myself never got stung) and I started to pull all the stings out of your skin that I could see. Your dad joined us with Josie and we started to pull your clothes off because they'd stung you through your clothes and we needed to get all of the stingers out. I estimate that you'd received at least thirty stings. At this point I freaked - that was simply too many stings for one little boy to take at once, so I rang an ambulance and it arrived within about five minutes thankfully.
I couldn't believe that you weren't crying, despite being stung so many times. I think perhaps you had gone into shock, much like I had, but you were simply saying that the bees were so angry and shouldn't have done that. The paramedics looked you over and gave you ice packs for your stings. As a precaution you went to the hospital with your dad while I took Josie, Matt and Soda home, completely shaken up and worrying about you Tobes. Luckily you seemed ok and Ma Ma and Gumps collected you both from the hospital after about an hour.
It was a horrible way to spend a Christmas Even but I'm so grateful you were ok Tobes. And clearly you are so incredibly resilient. To this day I'm not sure what they only attacked you, my only guess was perhaps that you stepped on their queen, which may have meant a smell was emitted that caused them to go just for you. I'm so sorry if this has traumatised you, if you are it's absolutely fair enough as this was a horrible experience to go through as a three year old. Please remember that I did my best to rescue you as quick as I could beautiful boy.
Afterwards we put out biscuits for Santa and carrots for his reindeer and went to bed, waiting for his arrival. And as you can see from the photo below, he did arrive soon after :)
Love you all,
Mum xxx
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