Children rescued from hot car

Okay,soIguessthethemethisyearforsummerwillbethedangersofleavingyourkidsalone
inahotcar.Idontknowwhythisevenhastobediscussed,buttherehavebeenreportsof
deaths,andtodayvideoshotofpeoplerescuingchildrenoutofacarthatwasparkedoutsideof
abeautysalon.
Originally,thestorymadeitsoundlikethemotherhadleftthekidsinhercarinordertogeta
haircut,andthemenwerebreakingtheglasstorescuethem.Thisseemedplausiblegivenallof
therecentreportsofkidsbeingleftinhotcars.
But,anupdatedversionhasclarifiedwhathappened.Themotherhadaccidentallylockedher
kidsinthecar,andaskedthementobreaktheglass.Iregretmymisunderstandingofthe
situation,andfeelforhersituation.Lockingyourkidsinyourcar,underanysituation,isscary.It
wasquickthinkingtogetthemoutinthehotweather.
So,thisnewstoriesbringsontwothoughts.First,therehavetobestepsthataparentcantake
totrytoavoidlockingtheirkidsinthecar.Thisprobablyisonlyaproblemwithsmallerkidswho
areeithertooyoungtounderstandinstructions,physicallyunabletoreachorworkthelocks,or
donothavethematuritytounlockthedoorandgetoutofthecarontheirown.Thisemergency
planmightinvolvealwayscheckingtomakesurethatyouhaveyourkeyswithyou,andcarrying
anextrasetinyourpurseorwallet.Second,youshouldmakealistrightnow,whileyourecalm,
ofthethingsyouwoulddoorthepeopleyoumightcallifyouarelockedout.Thismightbe911,a
spouse,orafriend.Itmightalsobegoodtohavethephonenumberforalocalcardealershipso
thatyoucanmakearrangementstohaveakeymadeincasethatbecomesyouronlyoption.
Hereismyrevisedthoughtsabouttheotherpeoplewhohavebeenleavingtheirkidsintheircar,
asituationseparatethantheoneoriginallyusedasanexample.
Dont Leave your kids in the car
Puttingasidethelackofcommonsense,whatIdontunderstandiswhytheseparentsfeellike
theirchildrencantjusthangoutwiththemwhiletheyrunerrands.Well,okay,Iunderstandwhy
somethingsareeasiertogetdonewithoutyourkidsaround,butwhatwedoisfindsomeoneto
watchthem.Or,bringanextrahandsothatthereissomeoneelsetowatchthem.
Thepointisthatwithalittlebitofadvancedplanning,itispossibletogetthingsdonewithout
endangeringthelivesofyourkids.Ifyoufindthatyoudonthaveanybodyelsetowatchthem,
thenforGodssakejustacceptthatyourestuckwiththem.Maybethehaircutneedstowait.
Maybetheyneedtocomeintothegasstationwithyou.Youllgetfrustratedandangry,butaside
fromthattheywillbesaferthantheywouldbeinahot,lockedcar.
OnemorningnotsolongagoIsawasIpulledintoagasstationthatalittleboywasleaningout
ofthewindowofthefrontpassengersidewindow.TheboysmiledatmeandwavedasIgotout
thecar.Ihappenedtobeparkedattheothersideofthesamegaspump,soIwasabletosee

intothebackseatofthecar.ThereweretwoboystheoneImentioned,andayoungerone,who
werebasicallycrawlingallovertheinterior,playingwiththesteeringwheelandplayingwiththe
radiocontrols.
Inaway,Icouldsympathizewiththeparents,whoevertheywere.Pumpinggasshouldbesuch
afastthing,youreallydontwanttobesloweddownbyyourchildren.But,whateverthebenefits
thissituationhelpedtoillustratetherisks.Heretheseboyswere,messingaroundinthecarwith
thewindowopen.Thecarcouldhavebeenstolen,ortheycouldhavebeenkidnapped,orthe
oldestofthetwocouldhavebumpedthegearshift.
Thefatherfinallycameoutofthegasstationstoreandwasobviousveryangryattheboysfor
messingaround.Hestrappeddowntheyoungest,thenwalkedaroundtotheothersideofthe
car.Whenhetriedtogetin,hediscoveredthatthedoorwaslocked.Hepoundedontheroofand
shoutedtotheoldestboytolethimin.Fortunately,thedoorwasunlockedandthefatherwas
allowedintothecar.
Dude,assomeonewhousedtotravelwithtwosmallchildrenofmyown,Idofeelforyou.There
isjustamomentinourlivesasparentswherewehavetoacceptthatwecantdothingstheway
weusedtowhenwewerentparents,andwecantalwaysdothingsexactlythewaythatwe
wantto.
But,thegoodnewsisthatthisbecomeseasierwhenyoulookatthesemomentsaschancesto
beparentsinsteadofachancetogetourmomentbyourselves.Bringingyourkidswithyouto
thestore,thebeautysalon,orintothegasstationsaysthatyouwantthemtobeapartofyour
day.Iftheyreoldenough,youmightevenincludetheminwhatyouredoingbyaskingthemto
helpyoufindanitemonthegroceryshelforhelpingtopaythegasattendantforgas.Ifthey
whineorbegforcandy,thenthisisjustanotherchancetoteachthemthatnomeansno.Alot
ofthiscouldfeellikedistraction,anditmighttakeyoulonger,butitisachancetobeaparent.
Becauseasaparentofkidswhohavegottenolder,Icantellyouthatyourkidwontbetuggingat
yourpantlegsfortoolong.Eventually,theywillbeoldenoughtoletthemselvesoutofthecar,to
dothegroceryshopping,anddriveacar.Someday,theywillbeparents,too,whomustdecide
howtheywillbalancingtheneedtocreateconnectionswiththeirchildrenagainsttheirneedfor
momentsalone.
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