Picture this… you are doing your weekly grocery shopping with your 3 year old and 8 month old in tow. The 8 month old is about at the end of her rope… she is tired and hungry. You rush out to the car, buckle both kids into their seats and start unloading the groceries. You throw your purse into the front seat and close the door. You head around to the drivers side, reach for the handle and try to open the door only to discover it is locked. Hmmmm…how can that be as you just had the 
doors open to put the groceries in?? Who the heck knows, but it happened to me today and I can tell you that I said a lot more than just “hmmmmmm….”. Yep… I locked the girls in the car this morning in the parking lot of Hy-Vee. In a panic, I looked around the parking lot hoping to find someone with a phone. Apparently no one shops at 8am because there wasn’t a single person in the parking lot. I couldn’t leave the car because it had the girls in it so I just calmly waited until someone pulled up or came out of the store. Several minutes went by and a lady finally walked out. I asked her if she had a cell phone that I could borrow and explained the situation. She was very kind, let me borrow her phone and suggested I call 911 so that the police could come out. I did that and about 20 minutes later an officer showed up to rescue us! By this time, Ella was screaming and Kelly was starting to worry. The officer had a handy little tool that propped the door open some and she was able to trick the trigger to unlock the door. Thank goodness it wasn’t 100 degrees outside or below zero. Everyone survived but it was one of those “duh” moments on my part, although I’m still not quite sure how it happened!
On a different note, our new kitchen table arrives today. Yay! Since a sweet girl bought our old kitchen table this weekend, we have been having lots of carpet picnics. The kids love it and get so excited when it is meal time because we get to eat on the floor. They are going to be terribly disappointed when we go back to eating at the table again!
I’m sorry that you were put in that type of situation. I wish there was some way that automobile makers could put in a safety device to prevent those types of situations. I’m hoping that by the time that I have kids, that fingerprint recognition will be more widely available on vehicles, to prevent this type of incident.
I love the idea of picnic eating inside! Tell the kids that the new table came from a far away land, which is technically true. Then, they will probably be just as excited.
Oh no! I’m sure that happens to everyone. Sounds like you were the epitome of calm during it all though. Good for you! 🙂
Your kids are so cute! I love the floor picnic. 🙂
You can get a magnetic key case to hide in under the fenders or some other metal part. Saturn has an extra key that will open the doors but not start the car.. Glad you kept your head and it probably seemed longer to you than it really was.
I notice you are using the stairway gate again. Ella must be crawling everywhere now.
OH NOOO!!!! What a scary situation – I kept thinking, why can’t Kelly let you in, but being the good mom that you are, she was already strapped in her seat. 🙂
So glad it worked out, you sounded so calm! I wouldn’t have been in tears and freaking out the kids!
I love hearing your family stories – you are so honest and refreshing and such a great mom. Makes me have hope someday I’ll be a great mom too! 🙂
Kirsten
You are such a good mom, I think I would have been bawling myself. I am sure this happens to plenty of people.
I actually have thought about that happening. Can I shut my door? I know it’s unlocked now, but what if it locks mysteriously when I shut it? 🙂 The picnic on the floor brings back memories for me. When I was little, I would ask to have a picnic in the den. Usually this was on Saturdays with PB&J’s or for Miss America with popcorn. we used a specific green and white flowery sheet for our blanket. What fun! can’t wait to see the new table!
I only locked the boys in the car twice.