Lauren Rowe, Physician Mother
My 2 1/2 year old finished dance class and we went to the car on this hot June day. On the way to the car my friend called and we were chatting. This was before Bluetooth and hands free devices so instead of driving and talking I put my daughter in the front seat of the car and turned on the air while we sat there. She was having a great time messing around with buttons and everything.
After I finished the call I turned the car off but left the keys and phone on the seat so I could carry her around and put her into her car seat. I buckled her in then closed the door.
Then the sinking feeling set in and I tried the front door and it was locked!
She had locked the car doors while playing and I just locked her in the car! Of course, in this normally busy parking lot there wasn’t a sole. Panicking I didn’t want to go as far back as the building but as I walked towards it I saw a car pull in and chased after it yelling at the woman to give me her phone.
Long story short, I called 911 and while they were on the way I called OnStar and either the policeman or OnStar opened the door…they both took credit and I hardly cared! Scary though this was about 5 minutes and my daughter was already hot.
My lesson here was to always take pause and think when I’m with my kids before taking action. I also put a reminder in masking tape on her car seat to remind me to make sure I had my keys before I shut the door!
Photo by Nick Karvounis on Unsplash
