one of those days

A few weeks ago, Caleb and I had just returned home from buying his Halloween costume and I was trying to collect everything from the car so we could get inside and have some lunch. Caleb, not unusually, was missing a shoe. I didn't see it on the side of the car I was on so I thought I'd go around to the other side. There was a brief debate in my head over whether I should bother shutting the door to the side I was on...but without too much thought, I went ahead and shut it. Then I walked around to the other side of the car, put my hand on the door handle and pulled...only to find that the door was locked. All of the doors were locked. And the keys? Caleb (who was still inside the car) had those. So there we on the side of the road by our condo complex...Caleb locked in the car, me locked out of it.

To make matters even better, Caleb's favorite button to press on the car keys is, of course, the red one. So there I stood outside the door of the car trying to figure out what to do while listening to him press the panic button...over and over and over and over. His thumb was resting right on the unlock button so for a short while I tried telling him, "Caleb, press THAT button." But no luck there. Eventually he threw the keys...which meant the was no longer any possibility of him unlocking the doors for me. But it also meant the the car would stop its incessant honking that drew the attention of all passersby. So for that I was quite thankful.

Before too long, a locksmith arrived and let me back into my car. (Seriously, what did we do before cell phones?) Fortunately, Caleb had remained fairly happy while trapped inside the car. I kept him laughing by playing peek-a-boo with him through the car window and entertaining him with the monkey costume we'd just bought. So when the locksmith arrived, Caleb just smiled at him.

While filling out the necessary paperwork, I let Caleb play around in the front seat of the car...one of his favorite pastimes. Once the locksmith left, I grabbed Caleb out of the car so we could get him a belated lunch and nap. Well he didn't like that. Nope, he wanted to stay and play in the car. So instead of being glad to get out of the car, he started throwing a little fit. Meanwhile, a firetruck pulled up. The firefighter asked me if Caleb was the one who had been locked in the car and if everything and everyone was okay. A little embarrassed, I replied, "Yes...he was fine until I took him OUT of the car." Sigh. Little stinker. But all's well that ends well, right?

Oh, and Caleb's missing shoe? Laying on the ground outside of the car all along.