The Good in the Bad

Yesterday was not my favorite day. There, that's the nicest way I've figured out how to communicate that idea. Not my favorite. Today, I'm going to look for the good in what was not my favorite day.

The Good:
Both of my kids will choose fresh fruit over fast food, even french fries (although they'll eat those second).
I respond quickly and correctly in crisis situations.
My first aid training is still ingrained in my mind even without a refresher for nearly 3 years.
Both of my kids are alive and well.
Mason has a tremendous amount of empathy for his baby sister.
We didn't have to go to the hospital.
Marissa is quick to forget fairly scary events.

After a long, not so terrific day, I totally provided dinner hitting up the drive thru at our local fast food restaurant. To assuage my guilt at providing such a less-than-stellar meal, I also washed some fresh fruit and set it out for us to eat. Included in this fresh fruit platter were some rather large grapes. Up until last night, Marissa had never choked on anything. She's a good chewer. I decided a couple of weeks ago that it was probably okay not to cut her grapes any more, so long as they were being eaten under direct adult supervision. Last night fell into that category since I was there eating with the kids.
About half-way through the grapes, Marissa starts to choke. I can clearly see her in my mind's eye, with panic across her face. No noises, no breath. Her little body was trying to get that grape out. I jumped up, unbuckled her from her booster seat, and performed the baby heimlich maneuver . The grape came out after just a couple of back blows, and all was well. Well, except the part where Marissa was really upset about the fact that her mom just flipped her upside down and hit her on the back pretty hard. And Mason was freaking out because his mom just appeared to assault his baby sister. Everything was perfect except those two things. Oh, and the part where I was crying with relief.
So, I sat with both my babies on my lap, all of us crying for one reason or another. Then, once I explained to Mason what happened and why it was important for me to help Marissa like I did, we all calmed down a bit and finished our tremendously healthy dinner. Marissa resumed eating grapes, almost immediately, although they had been cut into quarters. Mason declared himself the best eater ever. I scarfed down more calories than I want to admit. And all really was well with us. Thank goodness.