you know exactly what to do

You know those moments that you have as a parent where you think to yourself "Wow... that could have ended badly."

Those moments where for a moment time runs in slow motion. It almost stops actually, you see everything frame by frame The whole moment probably last only 30 seconds but slowed down in a time of emergency it seems to last minutes.

Your brain rifles through files of information searching for the right piece of info to pull out and read. You scan, Where did I learn what to do in this moment? School? Life? A book? Online? Ugh! And then it happens. Your brain kicks in and you move, you know exactly what to do.

You move swiftly, but not frantically. Get behind her. Get behind her.  You think to yourself. Focus, keep your hands from shaking, that will only make it harder. Your eyes precisely focus on your fingers. Pinch the clip, yeah that's right. You undo one clip at a time first the left, then the right. You shrug off the shoulder straps, pulling out her arms, left then right again. Careful not to pull her arms to hard, don't hurt her.

You pull her out of the highchair from behind, and you look at her face. Her big blue eyes are panicked, so big. She looks straight into yours and wordlessly asks for help. Mom, I can't breathe I am choking! Help me!

Flip her over, you know how to do this, flip her over! and you do it. You flip her on her belly and aim her head down, you smack her back just hard enough that it makes you uncomfortable, and it happens. That little piece of cucumber shoots straight out and hits the floor. 

Mark gets to me, and it's over.

 I flip her back and she smiles and claps her hands, and in that moment I know she will be alright. 

I get a pat on the back and a "Where did you learn how to do that?" 

"First aid and CPR. I had to practice, They had baby dummies, and they put plugs in the airway. You had to do it right to get the plug to shoot out. I did it over and over again making sure I had it. I was one of the only ones in class with a toddler, and a baby on the way, and there was no way I wasn't going to master it."

"Well good thing." 

"Yeah. Whoa that was intense. I guess cucumber is out for now huh?"

I looked at Ola, she smiled.

I took a big deep breath, and was glad that Twiggy got the cucumber and not Basil.