Look Back and Laugh

Dear Princess,

The memory I'm going to share with you tonight is not one that was particularly fun or special when it happened, but looking back, it's just a reminder of a silly little mishap, the kind we all have as children, that makes me laugh.

You were only two, I remember because you were still in that old, horrible car seat I bought at a yard sale before I knew better.  It was the middle of winter, shortly after M started coming over and we started spending more time than ever in the car between people's houses and schools.  One day, on the way to either your grandparents' house or my school, I can't remember, I fixed you a yellow sippy cup (one like I used growing up, the simple kind with no 'filter' that aren't really spillproof) full of milk before settling you in your car seat.  I gave it to you while I drove, but at some point along the way you threw it, and I must not have been paying close enough attention, because if I noticed, I forgot by the time we reached our destination.

We went and did what we needed to do, then drove home, sippy cup forgotten and wedged between your car seat and a spare infant seat in the back of my car... upside down.  It was not until the first warm day of the winter season (you know, the unseasonably warm one when you think spring is finally coming, and then it snows again the next day?) that I took the car over to the car wash, pulled all the car seats out and cleaned everything out to vacuum...

That was when I found the drained, upside down yellow sippy cup on the back seat... surrounded by a molding stain on the seat... smelling so bad that I nearly threw up.  I wasn't mad, I just laughed and rolled my eyes, thinking, 'ah, yes, there are certainly children in my life!'  I pulled the cup out gingerly with tissues, then used the upholstery shampooer on the car vacuum for the mold spot... continued cleaning out the car... but the smell lingered.  I kept all the windows open as I drove home.  And of course, like it always does, it got freezing cold again within a couple of days, so the windows in the car had to be left up, the heat turned on... no chance for that spoiled milk smell to dissipate out the windows.  For the first time ever, I actually put an air freshener in the car, but we could still smell it until finally the weather warmed up for good and allowed us to drive around with the windows open.

And from that day forward, I remembered to only give you water in the car!

Love you forever,
Katie