Gold Medal Mom

Oh my. What a morning.

After getting all my siblings off to school without any major issues, I was feeling pretty on top of it this morning as I headed for MOPS. I got a pretty good parking spot, locked the car, got out, and went to get Jack.

But the car was locked.

And my keys were inside. With my phone. And Jackson.

Enter panic mode.

I started by trying to get Jack to get himself out of his car seat. He didn't know how (although he's done it before when I didn't want him to) and he just got frustrated and started to cry. I started to look around frantically for anyone I knew (I knew my MOPS friends would be arriving and parking nearby), but no one I knew was around.

Finally a young man crossed the street near us. He could tell we were "in distress" and he looked over quizzically. I asked him if he happened to have a cell phone I could borrow. He did! Praise God!

I called Bo several times (he doesn't answer when he doesn't know the number) before he finally answered. However, I hadn't thought of the fact that I was driving my mom's car, to which Bo does not have a key.

In fact, the only spare keys were 30 minutes away from either of us, at my parents house. That meant that the fastest we would be able to get them and unlock the car would be at least an hour. I asked Bo to please think of something, call the insurance company, do something, and I hung up, thanking the young man profusely. He asked if there was anything else he could do, but I couldn't think of anything, so I sent him on his way.

Thankfully, by that time my MOPS friends were arriving. One of them, Betsy, offered me her phone and suggested that I call either the police or Pop-A-Lock. I tried but couldn't get through to anyone.

By now, Megan, Karen, and a bunch of my other wonderful MOPS friends had surrounded me with love and encouragement...and just as I hung up the phone there was a fire truck coming around the corner. All my awesome friends started flagging them down; someone had called them to help us!

The firemen were so kind; they saw that Jack was confused but okay, so they called Pop-A-Lock so that the car wouldn't get messed up in the unlocking process. They talked to Jack and Jack was very entertained by the fire truck.

Bo showed up for moral support and talked to Jack too. That made Jack's day--firemen AND Daddy?! Too good to be true!

Finally Pop-A-Lock arrived (FREE when there's a kid in the car YAY!!!) and Jack was out of the car, about 35 minutes after the start of the ordeal.

When I got that child out of the car I didn't think I would ever put him down, but soon he was asking to go play with his friends in church. I obliged and my MOPS experience continued as usual, without further event.

Let me just say: Thank God for my good parking space, near the church and in a high-foot-traffic area! Thank God for my mystery friend with the cell phone! Thank God for all my MOPS friends and the fire department and my supportive husband! Thank God Pop-A-Lock was free since there was a child in the car! And thank God it was 60 degrees and overcast so there was no danger of Jack getting too hot or too cold!!!

Boy do I feel like mother of the year, though...man nothing makes you feel worse than hearing your child say "Help me, Mommy!" and being unable to help.

Praise God for this too, though:
As we were leaving MOPS, there was a crowd of kids in Jack's little "classroom." As he was making his way to the door (carrying his own diaper bag, no less), he said "Excuse me! Excuse me!" To every kid he passed, very politely indeed. It was so sweet I nearly cried.

So...there was a HUGE blow to my mommy-ego...and then there was some awesome affirmation that I am helping God to raise an awesome, sweet, smart kid. That was so appreciated.