Minivans and Rice Krispy Treats

Yesterday I had a most harrowing waiting-for-Sophie-while-she-had-her-piano-lesson experience!! First, I had given the kids rice krispy treats to eat in the car because I take Sophie to her piano lesson right after school. Well Benjamin kind of played with the krispy treat for a while. This is after Sophie had gone into to her lesson and we were just kind of hanging out in the car and watching Shrek because as always Nina had fallen asleep on the ride over. I started to get a little annoyed that Ben wasn't eating his rice krispy treat because it was the kind that had the chocolate drizzle on it and it was melting and getting all over his jacket and carseat. I asked Ben if he was all done with his snack and of course he said "NO!". So I followed that up with "well you need to start eating it because you're getting all messy."

So here is what Benjamin did: he took 2 small bites and then shoved the whole thing in his mouth!! I'm yelling at him not to do it which in turn, of course, makes him shove it in faster (this is a pretty big sized rice krispy treat). I start getting out of my seat ready for what ever may happen next and Benjamin starts choking. He couldn't breath. It was one of those horrible moments you fear as a mother. Nina by this time has started screaming because of all the commotion. I sweep Ben's mouth and yank out the krispy treat which had molded itself to the shape of his mouth and he starts breathing and screaming and sputtering and wants his rice krispy treat back!! And he wants Shrek too because in the race to his seat I had pushed up the DVD screen with my head ( I think it kind of hurt 10 minutes later after the adrenaline subsided). So right after choking Ben is only concerned about getting his treat back and watching his video. I wish I could transition like that! So as soon as I am sure he's okay and has calmed down I flipped back down the screen and give him the mangled, mushy treat with the promise that he will only take LITTLE bites. And he did take very measured tiny bites so I am hopeful we all learned something from this experience. He to take smaller bites and me to never feed Benjamin anything remotely like a rice krispy treat when I am not right next to him ready to do a mouth sweep. AHHH!!!

Once everything had calmed down and Nina had gone back to sleep, do to the hum of the engine, Sophie finished her piano lesson and came out to the car. Now I need to give some further background for the part coming up.... I had parked in a snow covered parking spot in front of Sophie's teacher's house (my friend Nicole is her teacher). I did not think this was a big deal, we have a mini-van, its heavy, no problem to park in the snow right??

Yes, big problem!!! I had gotten a good start pulling out of the parking spot and everything was going fine, but then all of a sudden there was a car going behind me that I had to stop for...and there it was.... I was stuck. The tires had completely no traction and what I thought was parking in a "snow" covered spot was actually parking in a spot that had about 4 inches of completely hardened ice. I tried to pull forward, the tires spun. I tried to go back, the tires just spun around, not budging the car at all. I just kept going back and forth between drive and reverse trying to rock it, but no. It was horrible. My car was already somewhat in the street and I was completely stuck. It was a sad realization.

I called Adrian on my cel to tell him about my horrible circumstance. Benjamin is now crying that he wants to go home. Sophie keeps telling him over and over in tears herself that we can't go home because we're stuck. I tell them its going to be okay. Nina is surprisingly still sleeping - one little blessing at least. Adrian says he's coming and he'll grab a shovel on the way over to dig out the tires if need be. A man by this time had come out of his house and offered to help me and put some ice melt behind the front tires and started hacking at the back ice with a garden hoe. I try to go again and I'm still stuck. Nicole's wonderful husband comes out also and puts wood slats behind the front tires to see if that will work - it doesn't. These 2 kind men try for about 20 minutes to unstick my stuck car amidst screams from Benjamin saying "NO, stuck over!!!" - his way of saying that he wants what ever it is to stop. So then another of Nicole's wonderful neighbors gives them towels to put behind my front tires and after a few tries it worked!! I can't tell you how grateful and at the same time incredibly embarrassed I was! I am buoyed up to know how kind and helpful people really are. Thanks so much Nicole's husband and Nicole's neighbors!!! I will never park on packed ice again!!!

That's my worst mom-taxi experience ever!! Between the choking and getting stuck I was done last night. After the whole dinner and bedtime routine I went to bed too, skipping my regular Friday night viewing of 20/20 - its gone to pot ever since Barbara Walters left anyway. What a day!