Friday Lessons

I was officially trained in CPR and First Aid today. I have been certified before at some point, but was renewed today. Everything was very much review today, things I remember from  past certifications. And, there was one thing that reminded me of my days well before the certifications. The days of yore.

Part of the First Aid training goes through the heimlich maneuver. Flashbacks of my childhood came flooding back to me. The days when my mother worked on Friday nights and my grandmother came over to babysit us. Always a good time. I ask you to think of a ritual you had with your grandparents when you were a young child of about six or seven.  Did you bake cookies together? Maybe play boardgames or Go Fish?

Not me. Not Nick. We didn't have any of those kinds of traditions with my grandmother. Our traditional event of Friday nights was to practice the heimlich maneuver. Yup, no lie. Grandma has always been overly paranoid of life-threatening events. So, while babysitting us, she wanted to be sure that we were well equipped to save her life if need be. That meant practicing the heimlich. She covered all bases too. Nick and I had to practice on each other. Then, we had to practice on her, just in case, God forbid, someone larger than us choke. As six and eight year olds, we would need to step up to the challenge. Beyond that, we practiced what we would do if we were choking when nobody was around. This meant, we would take our abdomen and jam it into the top of a kitchen chair. Always a fun family activity. 

Ahhh, the good old days. When learning was fun. When learning meant that you got to push your fists as hard as you could into your brother's stomach, and then try to wrap your child-length arms around your 200 pound grandmother's waistline. Yes, Friday nights were something special. 

I know that if I still needed a babysitter on Friday nights, Grandma would be sure to add performing the heimlich on a dog to the agenda. She likes Shea.