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...