Like Mother; Like Daughter

Confusions of a young mother:
Several years ago.... I was just a small girl myself.
My cousins were in town visiting and I had been sent to bed in my my parents room.
My mom had a beautiful pearl necklace on her dresser.
I had remembered my mom telling us they were "real" pearls.
I had to touch them.
So I did.
I held them, I tried them on, I adored them.
And then...they broke!
Pearls fell around me.
I wasn't worried; my mom would understand.
I began picking up the pearls and then I had a thought!
(an odd thought, I admit, but I was just a little girl, I didn't know better)
"What if I push one of these pearls up my nose and then pop it out!"
And so I did.
Yet there was no "popping out"
I panicked. I called for my big sis.
She came in and instantly knew I was in trouble.
Within an hour I was sitting in the ER of the hospital awaiting surgery.
Luckily, a super nice doctor flew in from Wyoming and pulled that pearl right out of my nose.
He was my hero.

Fast-Forward about 22 years...
My mom and I were at the store buying some goods for Lucy's blessing.
Grandma gave Kate some Tic-Tac's.
Pink ones.
Somehow one of those pink ones ended up Kate's nose.
"Yikes!" was my first reaction.
I could see the Tic-Tac nice and clear and with a little luck I easily pulled it out.
Phew. That was close.
My mom smiled at me with and simply said, "Like Mother; Like Daughter"

Fast-Forward two weeks...
We are on the way home from work.
Chris is driving.
Kate was in the backseat eating a few skittles she had earned at school.
We were almost home... and then..
"Mommy!! My baby skittle!!!"
Keep in mind, Kate drops a lot of things while in the car, and usually freak's out.
I often say, "It's okay Kate, I'll help you get it when we stop."
And so that's what I said.
Then the whinnying began.
Whinnying isn't handled well in our house, and Kate can tell you; "Words, not Whines please"
And then the crying, "Mommy!!!! My baby skittle!!!"
I turned around and turned on the overhead light.
(It's pitch dark outside, darn day-light savings)
I take one look at Kate, and say,
"Chris, she has blood everywhere!!"
And she did.
Her face. Her hands. Her clothes.
But why??
Then her tender little hand reached out and handed me a skittle.
A squished, broken-up, small little skittle.
And then she pointed to her nose.
I instantly had a flashback to my own childhood and prepared myself for a Thursday night at the ER.
We pulled in the driveway and went inside where Chris and I played Doctor on our sweet little patient.
We were able to extract the skittle and once again had a clear passage up the nostral!
Phew!!!!

The squished, broken-up, small little skittle had cut up the inside of her nose pretty well!
Here is our little girl, still messy, but way cleaner than we found her!

The next day at school I heard Kate tell her teacher,
"Skittles no go in your nose Mindy, just your mouth"
Lesson learned? Check!!