Crisis

Have you ever wondered how you'd react in a crisis? Are you the type who panics and freezes, or do you take control without missing a beat?

I've always been pretty good in crisis situations, but when I became a mother, I think I got even better. There's something about my kids in trouble that sets me in motion.

I'm not talking about "kid trouble" cuz I'm actually quite easy going when it comes to most stuff (some might even say TOO easy going.) But it's just how I roll. I don't freak out when my kids fall off of things, I don't intervene in every fight, even when someone is getting beaten over the head with a "Handy Manny" bowling pin. They're kids. They're going to get hurt. They're going to fall, get scraped, get cut, etc. That kinda stuff doesn't make me nervous.

But tonight, while sitting on the floor, changing Ethan's diaper, I went into full-on-crisis-mom mode when Colton started choking. And let me tell you, it brought me back. Back to that dreaded surgery where I almost lost him.

We had begun to wind down for the night. I'd fed them dinner, gave them all baths and put them all in their jammies. From there, the boys took off for the playroom and Hunter and I sat on the couch to watch "Secret Millionaire."

After a while the boys came back out to the living room to join Hunter and me. It took just one second before my nose detected a poopy diaper. So after searching for the culprit, I found Ethan to be the stinky offender. I grabbed a diaper and some wipes and began to change him right there on the living room floor.

But while I was changing him, I was aware of Colton kind of struggling with a toy basket on the shelf to my right. I assumed he was crying because he was frustrated that the basket he'd begun to pull out, would not push back in. Hunching over the basket he seemed more and more agitated, but was still crying.

But that crying turned alarmingly frantic and his cry became more of a scream. Still hunched over, facing the basket with his head almost in the basket, something inside me said he's not okay.

Leaving Ethan on the floor with no diaper on, I lunged for the basket and peered down to see Colton's face so that I could narrow it down to a mere tantrum or something worse. And as I looked down to see him, I realized that he was no longer screaming or making any sound.

He was panicked and his face was a scary shade of purpley-blue. He was trembling.

For an instant I honestly thought he was having another seizure, but I grabbed him and swept my finger through his mouth and throat as fast as I could, not really sure what I might be feeling. I smacked him as hard as I could on the back, and then he started crying again and lunged for me to hold him.

Before I held him tight, I checked his face again to be sure the color returned to normal, and it did. And his breathing was normal and the crying to me, was a good sound.

So then I held him. And his cries slowly stopped.

And minutes later he helped himself out of my snuggle and grabbed his two hot wheels cars and went back to playing.

Just like that.

I honestly do not know what happened to him. I have no idea what he may have had in his mouth, whether it was food or a toy or something else. I never saw anything. All I know is that after a good finger sweep and smack on the back he was okay again.

And I breathed a sigh of relief and patted myself on the back for my quick, cat-like, mommy reflexes. :)

And then I noticed that Ethan was peeing on the carpet. :) Oh yes, he still needed a diaper.

So on that note, if you don't know how you'd react in a crisis, at least do yourself a favor and take some first aid/cpr training courses to help you be as prepared as you can, because it's more important than ever to be able to think fast and react faster.

And on that note, I'm going to have a glass of wine. Good night friends.