Tuesday, September 6, 2011

bad-mom-moment-of-the-century...

So, yesterday I had a first.  A first and hopefully the last.  Here's the story...

After finishing grocery shopping yesterday, I grabbed a pumpkin spice latte and headed to the car with Hudson.  I was so excited to indulged in such a wonderful treat that I decided to document it with a photo.  When I got to the car I got Hudson out and set him on the passenger seat with my bag so I could dig out my phone to take a picture.  After we innocently took our picture, I set the phone down and began unloading the shopping cart.  This is where I went wrong...

In normal circumstances, I always get Hudson out first and immediately strap him in so I don't have to worry about him while I am unloading.  However, in this case because I was standing right next to him I let him play in the front seat (he often does this while we are sitting parked waiting for whatever the reason may be).  So, he climbed in the driver seat and was pretending he was driving.  Seriously, at this point... no big deal.  I am 2 feet away, unloading my stuff into the passenger seat, watching him and talking to him.  I knew he had the keys in his hand, but again... I was right there.

So, once the passenger seat was filled (with my eye still on Hudson), I quickly closed the front door while having my hand on the back door to open it at the same time.  Then as I had the door half way open (still latched but almost pulled open) I heard a beep.

Yes, a beep.

I knew what this meant.  In a matter of seconds, in a sequence of perfect timing that might almost be impossible to duplicate, my son had locked the car doors with the remote on our keys.  Of course, with himself, my wallet and phone all locked inside... and yes, the back door was still slightly latched.  I quickly being to feel a sense panic rushing through my veins.

I pulled and pulled at the back door.  Hoping to get it to open... which made me realize that when you are driving with your door slightly ajar, there really is no way to open it without using the handle.  I then proceeded to try to convince my 2 year old to push the button again on the key chain.  Mind you, he was as happy as a clam.  With a big smile on his face, completely unaware of the severity of the situation, he looks down at the keys and just smiles back at me.

I went on to tell him to push the button by the shoe, because we have a small rainbow sandal keychain on our keys.  Well, once I said shoe, he started looking down at his shoes, then again looked right back at me with a big smile.  I was then coming to grips with the fact that my son probably was not going to be talked into pushing the appropriate button.

With not wanting to leave the side of the car, I saw a nice looking man pull up in his car in front of us and in a frantic mess I began to quickly explain what happened and begged for him to get a manager from inside the store for help. I know that sometimes stores actually have a tool they can use to unlock doors and I was hoping for this to be the case.  The man, who I later learned his name was John, clarified with this obviously-pregnant-and-panic-stricken-lady-whose-2-year-old-is-locked-in-her-car-with-her-phone-keys-and-wallet, that the best option would be to call Triple A.

I went on to explain that I do have roadside assistance with my insurance company but all the information is locked in my wallet in the car.  So, this nice man offered to call from his phone and to use his Triple A card to make the phone call.  I was seriously soooo thankful!  He proceeded to call and I meanwhile continued to try to convince Hudson to push the button on our key chain.

Once the tow truck was on it's way and we were told it would be about 15 minutes (probably the longest 15 minutes of my life), John said he was going to run into the store, but as soon as they called when they were close he would come right out.

So, this is where the fun continues.  John goes in the store and I stand outside of my car with a shopping basket half full of groceries, knocking on the window and talking to Hudson while I watch him thoroughly enjoy playing and exploring the car.  At one point, he had his hand on the gear which of course, freaked me out.  I imagined him putting the car into nuetral and watching my son and the car roll away.  He tried to put the key in the ignition, but thankfully he was doing so with the house key instead of the car key.  I was praying for God to intervene, thinking about what a foolish decision I had made all while instructing Hudson not to touch the gear and not to put the keys in the hole.

Thankfully, he listened and decided to crawl back into the back seat.  At this point, he was playing with the latch on his car seat and tried to latch it himself.  Then he came over to the back door where I was standing and smiled and tapped on the window.  I then asked him to try to open the door... which he has never done before.  But, after showing him from the outside to pull the latch, he tried it... and yet, it still wouldn't open!  I then began to tell him to push the red button hoping the lock button looked red and if it did that he would be able to push it.  He tried opening it a few more times, but then he found coins in the side door (which I had no idea were even there).

So, the fun continued for Hudson.  With so much joy in his face with his new found treasure, he immediately climbed back into the front seat and proceeded to put the coin in the cassette player.  I knew what he was going to do, because he has tried putting small things in the cassette player before.  I coached him out of this decision, so he decided maybe the air vent would be a better option... NO!!! I again convinced him not to put the coin in the vent when he decide that yes, yes the cassette player would be the best option for a new home for this little coin.  And so, the coin went in.

At this point, I am hoping the coin in our cassette player is the worst of the consequences.  Mind you strangers are walking by and starring as I am standing alone next to our grocery cart outside of our truck talking very loudly to Hudson inside the truck.  Talk about embarrassing.  Oh and the guy gathering the carts, even offered to help me finish unloading my cart.  Anyway, after Hudson discovered the joy of putting a coin in it's new found home, he quickly climbed back into the back seat to grab yet another coin.  And yes, he gave this coin a new home in the cassette player as well.

Still waiting for the tow truck and for John to come back, the fun continues.  Hudson looks at me smiling and picks up my coffee that I had set in the cup holder.  He picked it up with one hand by the lid of the cup.  I of course, told him to take two hands and put it back.  He listens, only to pick it up again.  Now I am thinking about how it is going to spill coffee all over him (although, I knew it probably wasn't very hot at this point), but I was imagining the coffee spilling all over him and the interior of our truck that we are wanting to try sell in the next couple of months.  I again told him it was coffee and hot and to use two hands to put it down.  He listened again (thankfully) and went back into the drivers seat to pretend he was driving.

About this time, John comes out and I see the tow truck pulling up.  Hudson still completely unaware of what was going on and continues to play.  As the tow truck man is walking towards me about 2 parking spaces away, Hudson climbed into the passenger seat and OPENED THE DOOR!!!!

I could not believe it.  After all of that, he just opened the door.  I profusely thanked John and the tow truck man for their help.  Gathered my sanity and strapped my son into his car seat.

Never again will I do anything other than strap him in BEFORE unloading the car.

At one point, John said how quickly kids grow up and this will just be a story to tell.  I knew he was right, but I almost burst into tears.  I just couldn't believe I let something like this happen.  I have heard about these kinds of stories, but normally I am pretty cautious.  Goes to show, you can't control everything and life just happens.

When I finally got a hold of Travis (who was in a studio all day recording), he couldn't believe what happened.  After hearing that we were fine the first question he had was, did you get the coins out of the cassette player?  Yes, yes I did.  I just used a few long wooden skewers I had in the kitchen and guided them out.

So, we are safe.  The car is fine.  And I now have learned my lesson.  Someday I will tell Hudson this story and remember the truth of what John said... these kids will grow so quickly, this will one day just be a story.

The token picture of the coffee that began all the madness...

11 comments:

Unknown said...

How funny/scary! The craziest part is the pic you have to base the whole thing around. ha. My nephew has done this a couple times to my SIL. Once when my niece was about 2 months old and she had laid her on the couch while unloading groceries and Noah locked the door. I think he also ended up getting it unlocked again. I'm sure my day is coming! :)

The Washams said...

What a day that was! I could picture you outside the car with your pregnant belly, grocery cart full and trying to convince a 2 year old to open a door :). I'm glad you & Hudson are okay.

I, too, had a moment like when Josiah was 10 months old. We were in the garage, ready to leave. I buckled him in and threw my keys into the car on the drivers seat like I did almost every day. Well, that would be the last time for that. The keys hit something and locked the car. So, Josiah was in his carseat with no of me of getting the car open. A neighbor told me to call 911, so I did. The fire truck came and began to try to get the door open. I wasn't panicking until another fireman began pumping oxygen into the car so Josiah wouldn't suffocate. That made me nervous! But, all ended fine. It was not a hot day and he was only in there for about 10 minutes. Still, though, they're moments you would you could do differently. I've since learned to hold my keys while I put my kids in the car.

Thanks for the laugh today! It is definitely a story you can tell for years to come!

Meg said...

Oh my goodness! How hectic and scary that must have been! I'm so glad that he eventually opened the door for you! Of course, right when the tow truck got there... isn't that how it always works out!? ahhaah!

Oh, the way we learn our lessons....

Anonymous said...

I think every mom or dad has had one of these moments. Last month I went to go take the trash out went to head back inside and the door was locked.My nine month old daughter was inside and had just started to crawl. Thankfully my friend pulled up in her drive way I rushed over got her phone called my mom, because there the only ones who have an extra key. They went out of town for the day and my husband was an hour away at work. I tried to break down the door and I herd my baby crying so I started crying (gosh felt like such a bad mom). I rushed to the back door and looked through the doggy door I could see her. I started calling her name and she crawled right over and I was able to pull her thorough. I was still locked out of my house, but I had my baby and that's all that mattered. We eventually were able to get back in, but now I will always think twice.

MLN said...

OMYGOODNESS!!!!!!!!
LOL!
I am so glad you guys are ok and that I could laugh with you :)

When you wrote that he opened the door, I LITERALLY laughed out loud! Truly, that is the only logical outcome for such an ordeal. ;)

That picture will be a favorite FOREVER!

lizhoweth said...

awesome story! haha. hudson sounds like he's pretty obedient! if tucker had free reign, he would have been doing everything i was saying no to (drinking coffee, shifting gears)

Chaundel said...

For some reason this didn't post yesterday.

Sweet Hayley!! I'm so sorry for your escapades yesterday! I have a similar story with Reese except she was strapped in and didn't have the keys and the car was running! Love you. You are a wonderful mommy. (P.S. I found your blog searching for info on when your baby is due for the MW lsit. :))

Jessica Jones said...

Well if it makes you feel any better Titus locked me out of the house a couple of months ago. I was trying to tell him how to unlock the door for about 10 minutes. I could totally feel panic all over me because it was just him and Justus (11 months old) in the house with Justus crying at the top of his lungs. Brant came rushing home and then I realized we had an extra house key in the car for some random reason and I was able to get back inside. I guess the Lord guided us to have that extra key there for no reason knowing that I would need it. I use to always think that something like that would never happen to me because I try to be on top of everything. Well I guess some things we just can't help and the Lord uses them to teach us. Haha!!! So glad everything worked out! (And really happy to see that I am not the only mom who these kinds of things happen to ;)

Shannon said...

best. story. ever.

I, of course, am so glad everything was ok...but I couldn't help but laugh the whole time I was reading!

. said...

My in laws always roll down the window half way before they shut the door. Then the kids can play and they could always reach in and unlock the door. I never do it but maybe it's not a bad idea :) So glad it turned out well and that little Hudson is alright!

Roxanna Grimes said...

Oh my! It sounds very familiar in so many ways. Happy Mommying. I bet reflective dish washing was exceptional that evening! I am excited about what gender your next one will be. I think it will be a girl.