got a HUGE wake up call today, and a reminder that i am not in control - that it's all in God's hands. and although it wasn't life threatening, there was more than a frenetic moment and a feeling of helplessness.
so here's the short version... 5pm-ish after work, i head to the car with chase to the company's garage, realizing when i get down there that i need to readjust the car seat because for some reason we can't get it to fit tight enough in the middle seat. it must be the car's construction... in any case, i have to put chase down. and i think to myself... i'll just stand him up in the front seat for a few minutes, while i readjust. somewhere between that moment, readjusting the car seat, and closing the door... with the keys in the door handle, it occurs to me that i had heard the CLICK of the doors locking while i had been working in the back seat (i think that chase must have fallen over onto the lock button).
and then...
panic sets in, as i realize... the back door is locked, then i go to the front door, and it's locked too. i said this was going to be the abriged version, so fast forward 30 minutes - a call to aaa, some level headed thinking and comforting from some of my co-workers in our finance group, and the arrival of the aaa guy.
rodelio was our angel today. God sent him, just for us. fortunately, he was persistent and not rattled by the screaming baby and the frantic mom trying to settle him from outside the glass window. we have an anti-theft mechanism on the car, so the locks auto-lock even when the unlock button is pushed (by this ginormously long metal hook that the aaa guy had) or when the lock was flipped. so it took about 4-5 tries of flipping the lock and pulling the door handle simultaneously to open the car door. mind you, the alarm is going off sporadically at this point. and my little bubba chase, is screaming his head off intermitently (because at other times, he's look at rodelio trying to free the lock behind him), tears streaming down his face... wondering why his mommy is on the other side of the glass. regardless - as soon as the driver side door flew open (chase and i were on the passenger side), i ran over jumped through the open door to scoop my baby up into my arms. and after a brief but serious embrace, i grabbed for the keys in the back seat door handle and dis-engaged the alarm. no excuses - it was awful. but we are safe, and we are home.
thank you to my fellow ls&co. employees, thank you to my supportive husband for not yelling at me or calling me names, and an even bigger thanks for the blessing of this situation as a reminder to be more careful.
p, chase... i love you guys so much.
5 comments:
Somehow, we need experiences like this to keep us on our toes. So happy it was a "safe" reminder!
That's it, I'm coming to get him
That happened to a friend of mine with her baby on a sunny day in Los Angeles... Thank goodness for AAA!
And Chase won't remember a second of it, when all is said and done.
...sigh... not your fault mama... you're one of the most responsible loving mommies I know...
thanks guys for all your support. after i got home, it was so strange how acutely aware i was of EVERYTHING. and then i also realized, he probably likened the experience to when i put him in his crib at night for bed, and he screams his head off until i come back to help comfort him to sleep... notes to self: 1) don't put child in the front seat near the lock door button, 2) don't ever put the keys down in the car, and 3) if you do either of those two things... make sure you have already taught your child how to push the unlock button.
Post a Comment