As A Mom..

I'm always thinking ahead (and I'm sure you fellow mommas can relate). "If I shower right after he's down for his nap, then I can be ready, and maybe have the laundry folded before he wakes up." Or today's example...

We just got back from the grocery store. I had the truck today, so I parked on the street where we always park it. Gavin had fallen asleep in his carseat. So as I pulled up to our house, I began to "plan ahead". Well, it didn't go "according to plan"! The plan was, take the groceries in first, so when I take Gavin inside and go to lay him down for his nap, I won't have to worry about the groceries in case Gavin wakes up, and needs help to go back to sleep. So, I began taking groceries in. After my first load in, I came back for my second, turned off the truck, locked it, put the keys in my bag that was still on the passenger seat, and grabbed another handful of groceries. As I came back out.... Yep. The passenger door to the truck had shut on it's own. The keys, my phone, my baby all in the locked truck. As soon as I realized I needed to find help, panic set in.

I ran to the neighbors who live just behind us, because she is a nursery leader with me, and of course she'd be home and willing to help. "knock, knock". No answer. Blah. Meanwhile, I'm hoping Gavin is still sleeping, and not getting too hot. I then ran to the neighbors just next to us, because I thought she too, was a stay-at-home mom. "Knock, knock". No answer there. Now, I was about to break down, and let all the tears and sobbing loose.

I ran across the street. Thankfully, she saw me coming, and just let me in. I told her the situation while trying to stay composed, and she handed me her phone. I called Spencer, because he had the spare key. Well, I figured he wouldn't answer because he was in class. Aaaand he didn't. She suggests I run to her next door neighbor, because he is a cop, and probably has a slim jim. I do so. Knock. And no answer from him either. I run back to the nice lady's home, and we decide to call unified police. Well, apparently they don't carry slim jim's anymore, and will just break the window to get the baby out. We decided not to take that route.

Then, we realized there is another cop who lives on our street kind of behind me. She says, "Call your husband, and run over to that guys house. Take my phone with you." So I do. I call Spencer, still on the verge of breaking down because my sweet little boy was locked in the truck, I couldn't get to him if I wanted to, and it was just getting hotter in there by the second. I hadn't checked on him yet in the midst of all of this, because I just wanted to get him out right away. Spencer answers (YAY!) and then I lose it. I am practically sobbing while I am trying to explain to him what happened. I ask if he can come home with the spare key. He said he would. After I had hung up with him, the other neighbor cop had come outside, and started working on the truck with a slim jim.

Well, our truck is hard to unlock WITH the key, so with a slim jim, it just wasn't working. He keeps at it the whole time, trying different techniques, and the lady across the street, along with her daughter are there too. I kept checking on my Gavin to make sure he wasn't getting too sweaty, still breathing, etc. Then he wakes up. He spots me right away, and just watches all of us through the window. Not a peep came out of his mouth. A few smiles, but mostly just watching us. It seemed like it was taking FOREVER for Spencer to get home. Then the cop says, "His head is getting really sweaty, and his face is getting red." Okay, then I really started to panic. I could see his little head was soaking wet. His hair looked like he had JUST got out of the bath, his cheeks were red, and he had sweat dripping down his forehead.

FINALLY Spencer gets back, we open the truck, and get Gavin out. Poor kid! His head was soaked, and his whole body was damp from sweat. :( We thanked our neighbors, and even though they couldn't unlock the truck for me, the fact that they were willing to help, and were there with me to the end meant a lot. I would have been a terrible wreck if I were just waiting for Spencer by myself while staring at Gavin through the window, knowing there was nothing I could do. So, I am very grateful for them and their graciousness.

We took Gavin inside, I undressed him, and tried to get him to drink some juice. He was acting totally normal. Thank goodness! He's fine, and is his usual self, so I don't think he got too dehydrated. Luckily this situation didn't turn out worse than it did, and do I have to say that I know there are scarier situations out there? I do I know that. I know we are lucky it wasn't worse than it was. But, nonetheless it was a rough time for me. I had never felt so helpless. Gavin was stuck in that hot truck for over 30 minutes. Longest 30 minutes of my life! It honestly felt like hours.

But, it's over, we're all okay. And I'm a better prepared mom for next time. Hopefully!