Friday, February 27, 2009

Locked In

The other night I had a (very bad) dream that I left Moana alone in my car... I guess I just forgot her in there or something... but in my dream I came back to my car after being gone for about 30 minutes to find it surrounded by several hysterical women and a policeman who were questioning my parental fitness.

It haunted me all day yesterday and I told Scott about it last night. He assured me that I'm not a bad mom.

So this morning Moana had her 4 month doctor's appointment. I was all proud of myself for getting her up, changed, fed, and packed up in record time. I was so good. We weren't even going to be late. Score 1 for Mama.

In the parking lot of the MD office I was starting to get her unloaded (planned on putting her in the Baby Bjorn to carry her in to the office) when a woman arrived at the car next to mine and wanted access to her car. I figured it would be easier for her to just pull out rather than waiting for me to get a baby loaded up, so I closed the car door to give her more room and waited for her to go.

When I went to open up Moana's door again, it was locked. Oh. My. Gosh.

Heart sinks.

My keys (and my phone) were in the diaper bag which was now safely locked in the car. Along with my 4 month old daughter. All I've got in my arms is the Baby Bjorn.

Blood pressure rises.

Score -500 for Mama.

The only thing I could think to do was to run into the doctor's office and tell them what happened and hopefully someone could help me. Thank goodness for those track workouts I've been doing lately...

It was absolutely terrifying to leave Moana there inside the car... even though I knew she was safe in the car seat and its not like anyone else could have gotten to her... but I swear, talk about Mama Bear Protective Instinct kicking in... not having access to your child at all times is pure torture.

I arrived in the doctor's office out of breath and in the most frantic mode you can imagine. The girls got on the horn right away notifying security and inquiring if anyone could help me get into my car. I was instructed to go back outside and wait near my car.

Running back through the parking lot, I just about got hit by a car pulling out of its space. I didn't even care.... just put my hands on the car trunk as it backed into me, screamed something at the woman, and continued running toward my X-Terra.

One of the gals from the office came out to keep me company. I called Scott from her phone and within minutes he was there in the parking lot with me waiting for the locksmith he arranged to get there ASAP.

Score +100 for dad.

We kept peering through the tinted windows to see how Moana was doing. I could see her getting fussy at times, but she would calm down if we knocked on the window. She was very wide eyed and awake... no doubt wondering why the heck she was left all alone in that prison.

Today was the first day that I actually was happy that it has been a cold winter here. Talk about freaking out... had it been hot today I'm sure I would have broken the window out with my bare hands.

After what seemed like an eternity, the guy with the tools finally showed up to get the car opened. It was quite interesting to watch how quickly and easily he unlocked my car. If my phone hadn't been locked in the car, I would have taken a picture for you all to see. As it stands, just be aware that there are people who have tools who can get into your car faster than you can blink. Undoubtedly this guy has a side business stealing cars on the weekends. Though it probably isn't as profitable as servicing frantic moms like me... See, we pay anything to ensure access to our children. And he knew it.

Even though we spent our next month's mortgage on this guy's services, I almost kissed him when I heard the door unlock. Of course then the car alarm went off when Scott opened the door. And of course by this point Moana was in such a deep sleep that she didn't even open her eyes to the sound of the alarm.

Must be nice to be so oblivious to everything, huh?

My blood pressure returned back to near normal just in time for it to spike again as Moana cried out in pain from the needles delivering her vaccinations. It was a tough morning.

In good news, we got to have lunch with daddy at our local health food store, Down to Earth, today.


PS- There will be a key hidden somewhere on my car now... just in case any of you locals want to go ahead and steal my car when you see it around town...

11 comments:

N.D. said...

oh my.. that is scary you had that dream and then this happened! I am already afraid of doing that, and I'm sure it happens often! Glad it all worked out but I'm sure your heart rate was through the roof! It's ok mama!

Mnowac said...

Oh my gosh that is so crazy! I cannot believe you had such a similar dream. Glad the locksmith was able to help so quickly.

Kate Parker said...

Tough day...so scary! Sorry, mama.

Sara said...

Oh. My. Gosh. That sounds sooo scary. I'm so sorry that happened to you. I had goose bumps and tears in my eyes when I read that! I'm going to have to get a hide-a-key too! Good thing moana is so chill :)

jessica said...

What a day -- those vaccine appointments are tough enough on their own (but hey, I guess the next one will seem like a breeze!) I'm always worried I'm going to do the same, and have caught the door at the last millisecond a couple of times.

H said...

OH scary!!! Sorry that happened to you... of course Moana was just fine and clueless, it's what babies do while we freak out. ;)



The dream: I'm always worried when I leave her in the car for just a second (say carrying groceries up the stairs to my condo when she's sleeping in the car and I think it's better to leave her sleeping until I finish so she's not crying on her own in the house while I do it...) I lock the door and go up but I'm afraid someone is going to see her and freak out and call the police and question whether I should have a daughter.... wait, that's not normal, is it?

Anonymous said...

I don't have any kids of my own (yet!), but I do baby-sit and you should not feel bad. Once the family I work for took their 8 year old to Disney (and a 3 hour plane ride away!) for 4 days and I stayed with the two year old. It was the middle of winter and I accidentally locked us out of the house with NO second set of keys and no phone. Had to run to a neighbors house and use their phone to call her grandparents for their set and JUST caught them as they were leaving for the airport to go to Florida. Phew!!

Doesn't make what happened any less scarier for you, but you're doing a great job!!

X-Country2 said...

OMG. What a scary story! So happy it all worked out.

Did they use the blood pressure-like pump thing to break into your car? Crazy how fast and it is, right?

Newt said...

My heart stopped just reading that. I'm so glad everything is OK!

Angela said...

Yikes, I'm so frantic for you. Give her extra hugs tonight and forgive yourself for being human. I have to do that a lot lately.

Angela and David said...

That is one of my worst fears. Now I just never lock my car - ever (probably not smart in Chicago). Glad Moana handled it like a champion. Could you imagine how much worse it would have been if she was in there crying the entire time? Wow, your dreams are scarily foretelling.