Mothering fail, I fed my children toxic rotten ham

This post is written for anyone who is searching the web in a panic about the results of consuming rotten, turned cold meat such as ham.  After my children ate putrid ham I was told that symptoms would display within 6 – 8 hours, fortunately my children survived my flawed parenting unscathed.  Incidentally the meat was used before the sell by date and had been kept cool.

Why can months pass at home without a medical drama, but let us leave the house and disaster strikes.  On our previous trip, during our lunch stop, Fjord stood on a rusty nail.  This time I fed the children ham which had taken a turn for the worse, that little piggy should not have left the market.  I was congratulating myself for packing a healthy padkos (food for the road).  Chicken salad rolls for Cliff and me, Gypsy ham for the children.  All packed in a lovely cold cooler box complete with ice bricks.

Sometimes I have my head in the clouds and don’t make lightning speed connections.  We parked in a lay by to enjoy our lunch, on opening the ham I noticed an offensive odour but discounted it as something manky in the nearby bush.  It was only on re-opening  the ham for seconds for the children that I connected the dots between the pungent smell and opening the pack of ham.  A wave of horror, nausea and panic flooded me.

In the next town we searched for an open pharmacy to no avail.  I tried to find charcoal tablets which are thought to absorb toxins but none were to be found.  All that I could do was feed the kids a banana and a yogurt each (I had read that both may be of help to prevent food poisoning), and say a prayer.

I had visions of spending the night at a hospital under dire circumstances, my children are clearly tougher than I imagined, my prayer was answered and they had absolutely no sign or symptom of food poisoning.