Unprofessional Parenting

I mentioned in my welcome note that I have unfortunately been one of those parents who locked my baby in my car.  I feel now that the story might deserve a bit of clarification – not that I didn’t do it, I did, but that it really was a well thought out plan that just didn’t work as I had expected. 

I live in a very rural community and I went out that morning to the post office to get the mail. It was about 11AM and about 90 degrees out (I know, but just wait before assigning judgment please).  There usually isn’t anyone at the post office and there wasn’t that morning either.  My original plan was to leave the car running and just jog in and get the mail.  Here’s where it got complicated. You know those women who do exactly that and then their car is stolen with the kid in it? The odds of that happening at my post office are a million to one because no one goes there but I could just picture myself on the news saying “I was just gone for a minute!” and everyone thinking what a terrible parent I was. 

My new plan was to take the clicker off my key ring and lock the car with it while the car was running. That way the a/c could stay on but no one could steal the car with my baby in it.  It worked great until I returned and the clicker no longer had enough battery to unlock the doors. What are the odd of that? I told the post office lady who started to panic (I told her the air was on and the gas tank was full so we had a few minutes before deciding to panic) and asked her to put the clicker in the freezer in the hopes that the battery would “wake up”.  She did – for about 30 seconds, which wasn’t at all long enough, and then brought it out to me and resumed her panic.  

To make a long story short, after a minute or so of looking around for rocks that might be large enough to break a window, I ran across the street to a mechanic and asked if he might have a battery for the clicker. He didn’t but he had one of those computer deals that thieves use to unlock the doors. When we got back he proceeded to pound on my clicker to see if he could get it to work and after a minute or so it worked enough to unlock one door.  That was all I needed!

My husband was pretty annoyed when I told him (a few weeks later – it took a while to work up the nerve) but one of my mommy friends that I swore to secrecy almost laughed herself unconscious when I told her.  I really meant well but from time to time this parenting stuff doesn’t go quite the way we plan.    

This blog is designed to navigate through my own parenting adventures and to share some of the not so perfect moments with you.  I have one son who is two years old and I’m expecting another baby in February of next year.  I’m a researcher at heart so I’ve read countless parenting books and I’ve subscribed to tons of blogs but it seems to me like there is something missing from all this material.  I very rarely see an honest parenting report. 

Have you ever locked your baby in the car with the keys? I have. I also stopped my shopping cart behind my car and as I unloaded groceries at some point when I turned away the cart and my 8-month old son rolled away at high speed across the parking lot (he was fine and I think he actually enjoyed the ride).  The point of all this is that I’m convinced that I’m not the only one who has done these things. For a long time I wouldn’t tell anyone because I feared the “bad parent” judgment but they’re honest mistakes and kind of funny in retrospect. 

So no, I’m not the only one who has done it but I might be the only one who will admit to it! So come along with me as I divulge some of my most embarrassing parenting moments with the goal of helping you all realize that a good parent is not necessarily a perfect one!