Is it 'sposed to be leaking?

So my van had no heat.  As in when I drove the kids to school the one morning when it was shivering cold, my breath caused ice to form on the inside of the van.  Which then I had to stop and scrape the ice off the inside of the windshield that came from my breath.  This was something that must be fixed.  And being that I am not mechanically inclined I asked my dear friend/mechanic what should be done.  I was told I simply needed to add antifreeze/coolant (not sure how opposite things can be in the same fluid...but whatever) to the radiator.  Sounded simple enough.

So tonight we were in Seville getting gasoline and I decided to get the fluid as well.  I was quite pumped if I must say so myself as I carried the fluid to the counter proudly as if to say "yep. I want this. And I'll add it myself" 

I ran back out to the parking lot.  If you were at that particular gas station at that particular moment you would have had the opportunity to witness a mother imparting some wisdom about cars to her son.  I taught him all I knew about cars right there in that parking lot.  I showed him how to pull the stick thingie and put it in the hole to hold up the hood.  And he got it on the first try. Amazing.  I do have smart kiddos, don't I?

We looked around the engine for a minute and I saw the clearly labeled "ENGINE COOLANT" on one lid.  I thought "sounds about right" and opened 'er up.  I slowly poured the lime green liquid through the hole.  I was feeling mighty proud at this point.  Then Riley starts screeching "there's a leak, there's a leak"  I looked down and there was a massive puddle of neon green under the van. 

I started to panic, but did remember that I did miss the hole quite a bit while pouring it so it could just be that.  Not one to crawl under a van in a cold, dark parking lot I put the lid back on, shut the hood (remembering to put down the stick thingie) and got in the van.  Riley said "Mom.  We really need to duck tape that hole"  I said "um, yea. Maybe"

The whole way home Riley watched behind us looking for a trail of green liquid.  Considering that it was pitch dark, I wasn't too stressed when he screeched out "I see some Mom, I see a huge green line following us!" 

I decided not to panic over the thought of a leaky radiator.  Instead I parked over a large part of snow.  I thought what better way to see if there really is a leak.  If I reopened the hood, how will I ever know if it was leaking? I'll be looking from the top.  What will that tell me?  Instead, I'll park it over the white stuff which will glow if there is green stuff on it.  Right? 

So, we'll see in the morning if A.) its leaking B.) I really just missed the hole or C.) I'm not really ready to be a mechanic.

If it is leaking, we will deal with it and if it isn't we will just praise God that the only problem we have is that Mommy can't pour liquids into holes in the engine.  And I think we can live with that one.