The situation ~ I'm heading to the grocery store with both kids. I put Emahry in her seat & then lock the doors to go inside to get Jonathan.
Problem ~ Van doors lock, windows up, & keys sitting on the front seat.
Bigger Problem ~ Our 17 month old daughter, Emahry fastened into her car seat, ready to go.
Our hero ~ My wonderful husband, Tim.
His tool of choice ~ A wire clothes hanger.
Time it took to open the door ~ 15 minutes.
Lessons learned ~ One of the points of keyless entry is so you can lock your vehicle from the outside, therefore making it impossible to lock your keys in the car. The spare van key should not be kept in the van (duh!). You should always keep a few metal clothes hangers in the house. I had to get one from our neighbor. Boy, I'm glad she was home!
By the way, Emahry thought the whole experience was pretty fun. She kept blowing kisses & waving to us through the windows.
Please don't leave any comments telling me how I must be a horrible mother. Thanks!
I think you are being too hard on yourself. There's not one person that doesn't make some sort of mistake when raising kids. We all do it, I've done it and if anyone says otherwise, they lie. Things like that happen. It wasn't like you forgot about her in the car.
ReplyDeleteI've left one of my kids at home (he was 3 yrs old) while the rest of us hopped in the car to go to a soccer game. I was panicked all the way home, only to find out he didn't even know we had left because he was busy playing video games.
Don't worry, you're not horrible! Sounds like you are doing a great job.
I once locked myself out of my apartment with my 3 month daughter sleeping inside in her crib!! Of course I felt terrible, but lesson learned, no one was hurt, and I will (most likely) never do it again.
ReplyDeleteYou are sooooo not a horrible mother! You are awesome!!! That is so easy to do, I would be very surprised if there's a family out there who gets away without doing it at some point!
ReplyDeleteIt was an innocent mistake! At least you were at home where a neighbor could give you a hanger. Once while out having a picnic, my husband didn't realize he had hit the power locks when he got out of the car. My two kids were sleeping in their carseats, so we decided to set up before waking them. We got all the goodies from the trunk (which had been opened by the little latch thingie by the drivers seat before the door had been closed) and thankfully had not shut the trunk lid before I went to get our little girls. Locked Tight, keys still in the ignition! My husband had to break into the car by breaking out the back deck, reaching in and releasing the oldest from her seat (who was 3), and then we had to try and tell her how to unlock the doors. Its a funny story now, 18 years later, but at the time I was pulling my hair out!
ReplyDeleteThese things happen! Don't spend any more time fretting over it.
This is a story to tell Emhary and Jonathan when they're older. It's one for the scrapbook I think! I can't say I have a similar story yet, but, man, I'm sure my day will come too!
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