A Memorable Easter
So it was Easter morning. Many families were at church, or at home with friends and family having brunch, or perhaps out at an Easter Egg hunt. Not us.
While the rest of the family was still in bed Hari left to go play golf. Having no commitments I lazed in bed until nearly 7AM when the baby woke up and decided it was time to snuggle and play. He was at his ultimate cute best. He would smile at me, squeal, then put his head down on my shoulder and peek at me out of the corner of his eye. Or he crawled over me and put his forehead against his sleeping big brother's shoulder. Colin slept through it all, but I luxuriated in my peaceful morning.
I decided to have mercy and let Colin sleep so the baby and I headed downstairs where I cleaned up the kitchen a bit, and by then Colin woke up and joined us. We had a nice breakfast (yogurt, sausage, banana bread, fruit) and then I began planning out the rest of our morning. I figured we'd make a quick run up to Target as I needed to get a few things, then come back for either a walk or a jog. By then it would be close to noon and Hari should be home, so we'd have a quick lunch, the kids could take a nap, then I had planned a scavenger hunt for Colin.
That's not how the morning went.
I got everyone dressed, and went out to load everyone in the car. I opened both sliding doors, put my purse in the front seat and turned the car on so there would be some music for the kids. Colin clambered around the front seat as usual while I clicked the baby in. I closed Ryan's door then walked around to click Colin in. Now that both kids were fully restrained in their 5-point harnesses I hit the button to close Colin's door... and... the wind blew my door closed.
I looked, and saw that... EVERY DOOR WAS LOCKED. (Trunk too. And all the windows were closed.) Colin must have hit the "door lock" button when he was playing in the front seat. I was locked out of the running car, with both kids strapped into their seats. My phone was in my purse, also in the car. Oh - and we don't have a home phone. And even if we did, who would I call?
AAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
I spent the next 5 minutes or so trying to get Colin to escape his carseat. Trying desperately to stay calm I coached a not-quite-3-year-old on how to escape from his carseat while Ryan (of course) decided it was time to cry. I failed in my efforts to get Colin out of his seat, although I realized that he is very flexible as he reached and grabbed his "Raminator" truck off the floor of the car. He then yelled at me, "Mommy! GET THE KEYS!" (I would if I could, my darling, trust me.)
Oh, did I mention that Hari was probably an hour away (not that I could call him since my phone was in my purse on the driver's seat). And we lost the second set of keys for the van nearly a year ago. (We had them the whole drive back from Cleveland and literally think we lost them in the van in our driveway once we got home.)
I finally gave up on trying to get Colin to escape his carseat (secretly just a tiny bit happy that he can't get out of it), and after briefly contemplating breaking the window with a hammer I instead sprinted to the neighbor's house and asked them to call the police for me. Poor Ayesha was still in her robe and slippers, but she jumped into action grabbing her cell. I ran back to the car to stay with the kids and moments later her husband Akshai was standing with me outside the car, peering in at the kids. (Colin was still fine, baby still sobbing.)
While we waited for what felt like an eternity Ayesha reassured me that this happens all the time. It actually happened to them about a year ago - one of their twins was in the car (on a freezing winter day) and used the keyfob to close and lock herself in. They were with a realtor at the time, looking at houses, and she had to stay with the car while the realtor drove her husband back to the house to get their spare keys.
Colin was now shouting "Anoushka's mom... hi!"
Ryan continued to sob despite every effort on my part to calm him.
About 5-10 minutes later the policeman arrived, and immediately started warning me about how they cannot be held liable if there is any damage done to the car. I reassured him I couldn't care less, and he went to work. The officer used a wedge and something that looked a lot like a blood-pressure cuff to create a small gap between the driver's side door and the frame, then took what effectively looked like an industrial-strength coat-hanger (a metal rod about 1/4 inch in diameter, somewhat unevenly bent up, with an L-curve at the end) and was trying to use that to unlock the car door by pressing the button on the door. I suggested he aim for the window buttons instead (they're bigger) and if he got any of them to work we'd be set.
It was like watching someone play with the claw-game in an arcade... I was hoping against hope that he would be able to trigger the window... and... HE DID IT!
He got the window next to Ryan open about 10 inches and (like a complete lunatic) I ran around and tried to unlock the door... but the button wouldn't work because the keys were in the ignition so the door-open buttons on the sliding doors was disabled. AAAUUUUGGGH! I half-heard the officer saying he'd try and get it open a little more but was out of patience. I shimmied up the side of the van (don't ask me how - I don't remember) and did a Dukes-of-Hazard move sliding into the van with my hands on the roof. I managed to get in between the carseat and the door (thank god I haven't put on too much weight - there wasn't a lot of room!) then did a pretzel move and got the front passenger door unlocked.
WOOHOO!!!!!
Ayesha and Akshai freed Colin from his seat while I got Ryan out and (like the stereotypical mother in every stupid TV show and movie you've ever seen) held the little guy clutched in my arms. And, of course, the second he was held he stopped crying. Meanwhile Colin was looking at the officer in awe... he was a cool guy in a uniform with some bizarre tools. I told him to thank the officer and shake hands and (awwww!) he quietly and shyly did exactly that.
And that was it. The officer packed up and left within moments (I think I thanked him about 20 times before he left), and it was like it never happened. Ayesha asked me if I wanted to stop down and Colin could play with the twins, and I gladly accepted, so we spent the rest of the morning there. Colin playing happily with his friends, the baby relaxing (he actually ended up taking a nap in Ayesha's arms) while I gradually decompressed.
Hari called around 11:30 and I let him know where we were, but didn't tell him the details until he arrived. He took it well, acting like it was no big deal, and then retold the story about my business trip when Colin locked him out of the house. Poor Hari was so upset when that happened, and I remember my first reaction was to laugh... so perhaps in a way this was karma... what goes around comes around. I can tell you for sure, I didn't find this funny. At all.
It did, however, make for a very memorable Easter!
On a more positive note, after Colin's afternoon nap we did a scavenger hunt, and he loved it! Since he can't read directions (yet!) what I did was take the plastic eggs, and put a print-out of a picture in each one along with a cinnamon bunny (they're like Teddy Grahams). I gave Colin the first one, explaining that the Easter Bunny had left something for him. He opened it, immediately ate the cookie, then I told him to open the paper and see what it said. It was a picture of a shoe, Colin's shoe. I asked him where his shoe would be ("In the closet") - OK, let's go see. He found the next egg, and then we were off! There were 11 clues in all, every other one was upstairs, then downstairs, and after the third clue Colin was starting to sprint around the house. Meanwhile Hari was watching the Masters, holding the baby to keep him out of the fray, and singing the theme song from Blue's Clues. Each new egg that was opened provided another "clue" until he finally found two baskets each containing a mini dinosaur stuffed animal (one for each boy) and a matching egg (which contained a few goldfish crackers).
And while this might seem like a dud basket for some (no chocolate, no candy, yadda yadda yadda) Colin had a blast and was asking me later in the day for more clues. And as far as I'm concerned it was a total win - he wanted to do more searching, and wasn't begging me for candy.
So while the day started off a bit rocky (understatement!) in the end it was a big success.
Oh - and for the record, Colin had a lot of fun (no kiddding!) watching the last day of the Master's with Hari after their marathon afternoon baseball game in the back yard. Colin actually enjoys watching golf, and likes predicting whether or not they're going to get the ball in the hole! The winner this year: Bubba Watson. (I just love saying his name.)
While the rest of the family was still in bed Hari left to go play golf. Having no commitments I lazed in bed until nearly 7AM when the baby woke up and decided it was time to snuggle and play. He was at his ultimate cute best. He would smile at me, squeal, then put his head down on my shoulder and peek at me out of the corner of his eye. Or he crawled over me and put his forehead against his sleeping big brother's shoulder. Colin slept through it all, but I luxuriated in my peaceful morning.
I decided to have mercy and let Colin sleep so the baby and I headed downstairs where I cleaned up the kitchen a bit, and by then Colin woke up and joined us. We had a nice breakfast (yogurt, sausage, banana bread, fruit) and then I began planning out the rest of our morning. I figured we'd make a quick run up to Target as I needed to get a few things, then come back for either a walk or a jog. By then it would be close to noon and Hari should be home, so we'd have a quick lunch, the kids could take a nap, then I had planned a scavenger hunt for Colin.
That's not how the morning went.
I got everyone dressed, and went out to load everyone in the car. I opened both sliding doors, put my purse in the front seat and turned the car on so there would be some music for the kids. Colin clambered around the front seat as usual while I clicked the baby in. I closed Ryan's door then walked around to click Colin in. Now that both kids were fully restrained in their 5-point harnesses I hit the button to close Colin's door... and... the wind blew my door closed.
I looked, and saw that... EVERY DOOR WAS LOCKED. (Trunk too. And all the windows were closed.) Colin must have hit the "door lock" button when he was playing in the front seat. I was locked out of the running car, with both kids strapped into their seats. My phone was in my purse, also in the car. Oh - and we don't have a home phone. And even if we did, who would I call?
AAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
I spent the next 5 minutes or so trying to get Colin to escape his carseat. Trying desperately to stay calm I coached a not-quite-3-year-old on how to escape from his carseat while Ryan (of course) decided it was time to cry. I failed in my efforts to get Colin out of his seat, although I realized that he is very flexible as he reached and grabbed his "Raminator" truck off the floor of the car. He then yelled at me, "Mommy! GET THE KEYS!" (I would if I could, my darling, trust me.)
Oh, did I mention that Hari was probably an hour away (not that I could call him since my phone was in my purse on the driver's seat). And we lost the second set of keys for the van nearly a year ago. (We had them the whole drive back from Cleveland and literally think we lost them in the van in our driveway once we got home.)
I finally gave up on trying to get Colin to escape his carseat (secretly just a tiny bit happy that he can't get out of it), and after briefly contemplating breaking the window with a hammer I instead sprinted to the neighbor's house and asked them to call the police for me. Poor Ayesha was still in her robe and slippers, but she jumped into action grabbing her cell. I ran back to the car to stay with the kids and moments later her husband Akshai was standing with me outside the car, peering in at the kids. (Colin was still fine, baby still sobbing.)
While we waited for what felt like an eternity Ayesha reassured me that this happens all the time. It actually happened to them about a year ago - one of their twins was in the car (on a freezing winter day) and used the keyfob to close and lock herself in. They were with a realtor at the time, looking at houses, and she had to stay with the car while the realtor drove her husband back to the house to get their spare keys.
Colin was now shouting "Anoushka's mom... hi!"
Ryan continued to sob despite every effort on my part to calm him.
About 5-10 minutes later the policeman arrived, and immediately started warning me about how they cannot be held liable if there is any damage done to the car. I reassured him I couldn't care less, and he went to work. The officer used a wedge and something that looked a lot like a blood-pressure cuff to create a small gap between the driver's side door and the frame, then took what effectively looked like an industrial-strength coat-hanger (a metal rod about 1/4 inch in diameter, somewhat unevenly bent up, with an L-curve at the end) and was trying to use that to unlock the car door by pressing the button on the door. I suggested he aim for the window buttons instead (they're bigger) and if he got any of them to work we'd be set.
It was like watching someone play with the claw-game in an arcade... I was hoping against hope that he would be able to trigger the window... and... HE DID IT!
He got the window next to Ryan open about 10 inches and (like a complete lunatic) I ran around and tried to unlock the door... but the button wouldn't work because the keys were in the ignition so the door-open buttons on the sliding doors was disabled. AAAUUUUGGGH! I half-heard the officer saying he'd try and get it open a little more but was out of patience. I shimmied up the side of the van (don't ask me how - I don't remember) and did a Dukes-of-Hazard move sliding into the van with my hands on the roof. I managed to get in between the carseat and the door (thank god I haven't put on too much weight - there wasn't a lot of room!) then did a pretzel move and got the front passenger door unlocked.
WOOHOO!!!!!
Ayesha and Akshai freed Colin from his seat while I got Ryan out and (like the stereotypical mother in every stupid TV show and movie you've ever seen) held the little guy clutched in my arms. And, of course, the second he was held he stopped crying. Meanwhile Colin was looking at the officer in awe... he was a cool guy in a uniform with some bizarre tools. I told him to thank the officer and shake hands and (awwww!) he quietly and shyly did exactly that.
And that was it. The officer packed up and left within moments (I think I thanked him about 20 times before he left), and it was like it never happened. Ayesha asked me if I wanted to stop down and Colin could play with the twins, and I gladly accepted, so we spent the rest of the morning there. Colin playing happily with his friends, the baby relaxing (he actually ended up taking a nap in Ayesha's arms) while I gradually decompressed.
Hari called around 11:30 and I let him know where we were, but didn't tell him the details until he arrived. He took it well, acting like it was no big deal, and then retold the story about my business trip when Colin locked him out of the house. Poor Hari was so upset when that happened, and I remember my first reaction was to laugh... so perhaps in a way this was karma... what goes around comes around. I can tell you for sure, I didn't find this funny. At all.
It did, however, make for a very memorable Easter!
On a more positive note, after Colin's afternoon nap we did a scavenger hunt, and he loved it! Since he can't read directions (yet!) what I did was take the plastic eggs, and put a print-out of a picture in each one along with a cinnamon bunny (they're like Teddy Grahams). I gave Colin the first one, explaining that the Easter Bunny had left something for him. He opened it, immediately ate the cookie, then I told him to open the paper and see what it said. It was a picture of a shoe, Colin's shoe. I asked him where his shoe would be ("In the closet") - OK, let's go see. He found the next egg, and then we were off! There were 11 clues in all, every other one was upstairs, then downstairs, and after the third clue Colin was starting to sprint around the house. Meanwhile Hari was watching the Masters, holding the baby to keep him out of the fray, and singing the theme song from Blue's Clues. Each new egg that was opened provided another "clue" until he finally found two baskets each containing a mini dinosaur stuffed animal (one for each boy) and a matching egg (which contained a few goldfish crackers).
So while the day started off a bit rocky (understatement!) in the end it was a big success.
Oh - and for the record, Colin had a lot of fun (no kiddding!) watching the last day of the Master's with Hari after their marathon afternoon baseball game in the back yard. Colin actually enjoys watching golf, and likes predicting whether or not they're going to get the ball in the hole! The winner this year: Bubba Watson. (I just love saying his name.)
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