Friday, July 25

And the award for worst mom goes to...

I hesitated whether or not to write this post, but it has been a few days so I think I can laugh at the situation now. Wednesday started out so fun. My friend Angela and her 3 cute (and tan!) kids came down from Kingwood to go swimming at my neighborhood pool. The day was sort of cloudy and rainy so when we met at the pool it had been closed temporarily due to thunder. We went back to my house to wait and see if the weather got any better and the kids had fun playing the Wii and with George. The pool reopened about an hour later and because it had been closed earlier we were the only ones there for quite awhile. We stayed for a couple of hours and then decided to call it a day. Kate loves to play with my keys, and being the indulgent mother (i.e. pushover) that I am, I let her play with them while we walked to the car. I put her in her car seat and quickly grabbed my keys from her and replaced them with her toy keys that were in the car. I tossed my keys on the front seat and shut Kate's door. When I tried to open my door....locked. I tried Kate's door...locked. I ran around to the other side....locked! Angela was still in the parking lot so I went to her car and said "I locked Kate in the car, what do I do?" She said "call 911". So I reached into my bag to get my cell phone and couldn't find it of course. Angela very kindly let me use hers and I called 911. The operator asked me "what is the address?". Well I didn't know so I said "umm...the Fall Creek pool?" That apparently didn't cut it so I had to run back to the pool to ask the lifeguards what the address was. Meantime, the call was dropped but I didn't realize it and the operator tried to call me back but I thought it was someone trying to call Angela so I hit ignore on her phone. After I realized what had happened I had to call 911 again. Keep in mind this is the middle of July. In Texas. And the car was not running so there was no AC. Luckily the day was cloudy so it wasn't too terribly hot. Anyway, I could hear sirens coming so I went back to the car and a cop car pulled up. Out jumped a short, bald cop. Then another cop car came, and again, out jumped a short, bald cop. Angela turned to me and whispered "Are they twins?". Man, I wish I had checked their name badges to see if they had the same last name! Oh well. Then a fire truck (not a fire engine, just a truck) and an ambulance came. They popped the lock in record time and I got Kate out of the car. She was pretty mad but I think it had more to do with her being tired than being in distress. Everyone was very nice about the situation, but I felt pretty stupid. So what do you guys think? Do I win the award or what? Here's a poll:
A. Nope, there are wayyyy worse moms out there.
B. Yep, you win. Someone call CPS!
C. I can't answer the question, I'm too busy trying to get my kid out of my locked car.

8 comments:

John-David and Kathryn said...

Nicole
If that is the worst thing that you have done so far, you don't get the award. Sorry. That is a pure mistake. I left carpet cleaner in an unlocked cupboard which my kids got to and had to call poison control. Now there is some dumb parenting. I know you probably feel real dumb now but wait until she gets older and you'll end up doing some real stellar parenting moves which will make this seem like nothing. What great parenting advice I give out. I tell people they are going mess up big someday:)
Kathryn

Stephers said...

You poor thing. I can only imagine how crazy this situation for you may seem, but I agree with Kathryn :) No really, super scary, but I am glad they had everyone there to help you within just minutes. And thank goodness for you're friend who was there and let you use her phone :) I am sure Kate has already forgiven you, but just think, this will be a fun story to share with her in the future :)

Angela said...

As I mentioned earlier, the reason I knew what to do with a locked child in the car, was because of the MANY stories I've heard about this happening to other people, so sorry, no awards yet for poor parenting! I was impressed with the quick response to your 911 call. It's nice to see our tax dollars put to good use!

You are an amazing mother, I can tell how much you love Kate, and it's so fun to see you in this role.

I do want to know Jason's reaction to the whole ordeal.

Thanks again for a fun afternoon.

Nicole said...

Angela-
Jason's response was...well, he wasn't amused. I thought at first he was mad but he said he just felt bad for me because I seemed upset. I think he was also stessed about studying for the Florida bar. One day we will laugh about it together!

Catherine Noorda said...

as horrible as this sounds..............my answer is........c!

i know, i know. things just happen somtimes when you're a mom. sometimes i just lose my marbles. i'm so glad you wrote that - it makes all the rest of us feel normal.

cat

ps - i love that like 10 workers were there for 1 locked car.

Kasey said...

Nicole, that is SO scary! Glad it all turned out okay. Don't worry though, I know LOTS of people (myself included) who get themselves into fun situations like these. It wouldn't be motherhood without them!

Danielle said...

Oh sad! I can't even imagine the panic you must have felt when that happened. I can't say that it has happened to me but that is only because I don't have any kids. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure this is something that I would have happened to me sometime.

Becca said...

Oh man, I bet that was stressful! I lived in Texas, so I do know how crazy hot it gets, and fast. Even the overcast days are hotter than hot days here in Utah! You are definately NOT a bad mother. I have heard of much, much worse things that some have done. I'm glad all worked out well!