lock up.

so i locked bennett in the car on friday.  yep.  there's no better way to start a weekend than locking your 7 month old in the car.  i pulled into the garage and parked after a long day at work and a successful [read: expensive] trip to target.  i was on the phone and had enough bags to carry in from the car that a pack mule would've struggled to carry them all.  naturally, i kept chatting on the phone while simultaneously trying to grab all of the bags at once (heaven forbid i make two trips).  i put my keys on the dashboard and pushed unlock so i could get bennett out of the back seat.  well, at least i thought i pushed unlock.  i must've pushed lock because i came around and tried to open his door, and it was locked.  still chatting, i went back around to the driver's door and tried to open it.  locked too.  i decided it was time to get off the phone.

"jake, i gotta go, i locked ben in the car."

"ummm, ok..."

i ran upstairs and yelled to joe.

"joe, where is the spare key to my car?"

"i don't know.  why?"

"i just locked ben in the car."

"what!?"

"yep."

joe starts searching the house for the spare key while i stand frozen outside bennett's car window.  oh, i forgot to mention bennett is screaming at this point, and he's only been in the car for two minutes max by himself.

i called the non-emergency police number and tell them i locked my keys in the car.  before i can even say anything else they start asking questions.  name?  address?  phone number?  i nearly cut her off and practically yell "my seven month old son is in the car!"  the operator acts completely unphased by this, as if it happens all the time.  maybe it does.  but still, give a girl some sympathy.  she tells me she'll send an officer as soon as possible.

fifteen minutes later, my attempts to calm bennett throught the window are all in vain.  joe has now said to me (while tears are streaming down my face and i'm having visions of being reported to child protection since he was alone in the car and didn't have a hat on in february in minnesota) "you really need to pay more attention to what you're doing."  good timing on the life lesson, babe.

finally, after 22 minutes and 38 seconds (not that i was keeping track), two officers come up our driveway.  i swear they had doughnut crumbs on their faces.  just kidding.  one says "you couldn't get the kid to unlock the door?"  joe says, "well, he's 7 months old."  the officer responds, "ohh, they told us he was 7 years old."  now i understand the lack of urgency and the doughnut break.

and let me just that we would have a SIGNIFICANTLY different issue on our hands if our 7 year old was refusing to unlock the car door.  a cps report may be warranted in that case.

anyway, it took them ten minutes to break into my car and rescue bennett.  the whole situation was just what i needed to secure my sense of competency as a parent.

i need a doughnut.