We had just finished tucking our five kids into bed when three-year-old Billy began to wail. Turns out, he had accidentally swallowed a penny and was sure he was going to die.

Desperate to calm him, my husband palmed a penny that he had in his pocket and pretended to pull it from Billy’s ear.

Billy was delighted. In a flash, he snatched it from my husband’s hand, swallowed it, and demanded, “Do it again!”