A 3-year-old boy at PALS (I'll call him Caleb) locked his baby sister, and the car keys, in the family car, earlier this week.  His mother (I'll call her Ruthann) had dropped her keys on the front seat of the car, before strapping her baby in the car seat. Unaware that Caleb had pushed the lock button on the car door, she closed that door and walked around the car to buckle Caleb in his car seat. And found that door locked. . . all the doors locked, with the keys and the baby inside.

[caption id="attachment_212" align="alignleft" width="127" caption="Jonathan and Isaac LOVED muThey are both now 23-years old and fine men."]<a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Jonmuddysoccer.jpg"><img class=" wp-image-212    " title="Jonmuddysoccer" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Jonmuddysoccer-159x300.jpg" alt="" width="127" height="240" /></a></dt></dl></div>
Ruthann had REALLY meant to replace her back-up set of keys, which Caleb had "lost" the week before. (She replaced them IMMEDIATELY after this incident.)

Two fire trucks and five firemen arrived with flashing lights, to extricate the baby.  Caleb greeted them with "Hi, guys!!" and the firemen gave Caleb high fives.

Talk about rewarding a little boy for his mischievous behavior! Ruthann will be fortunate indeed if Caleb doesn't manage to repeat this stunt, hoping to achieve similar success.
<p style="text-align: left;">Ruthann shared her "embarrassing" story to me and another mother at PALS yesterday.  And then I shared some stories about Isaac, one of my favorite 3-year-olds, also a child at PALS - with our son Jonathan, twenty years ago.</p>

<dl id="attachment_794" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 408px;"><dt class="wp-caption-dt"><a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/JonIsaacmud2.jpg"><img class="wp-image-794   " title="JonIsaacmud2" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/JonIsaacmud2.jpg" alt="" width="398" height="418" /></a></dt></dl>Several more moms stopped to listen, as I told about the day Isaac locked himself and the car keys in his house. His mother had carried a load of "mother stuff" - those things that mothers end up carting around with them - to the car.  She returned for Isaac and her purse, with the car keys.  To find the house locked.

<a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/JonIsaacMud.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-787" title="JonIsaacMud" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/JonIsaacMud.jpg" alt="" width="392" height="598" /></a>
<div class="mceTemp mceIEcenter"><dl id="attachment_794" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 507px;"><dt class="wp-caption-dt">[/caption]

She knocked on the door and Isaac peered out the nearest window, waved and grinned at her. She went from door to door, around the house, looking for an unlocked one or an open window. No luck. Back to the front door where she knocked and Isaac waved and smiled at her again. Around the house again, looking for a door or window where she could break in.

Before breaking a window, she went across the street to a neighbor's house. That retired gentleman returned with her, rang the door bell and Isaac immediately opened the door for him.

Isaac's mother had an extra house key made THAT DAY, and found a place to hide it, outside their home.

[caption id="attachment_791" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Jonathan and Isaac the day they graduated from Rome High. Both boys wore the National Honor Society stole. Isaac was valedictorian."]<a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/JonIsaacGrad.jpg"><img class=" wp-image-791 " title="JonIsaacGrad" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/JonIsaacGrad.jpg" alt="" width="480" height="249" /></a>[/caption]

And, I reminded the 5 or 6 mothers now listening to my stories, Isaac survived to grow up, was his high school valedictorian and is now a grad student at Harvard.

And, then, I told the story of the day Isaac slipped through the bars at the local Burger King playground. His mother was, of course, not small enough to slip through that fence.  By the time she raced into and through the fast food restaurant, she found Isaac standing in the middle lane of the five-lane thoroughfare in front of the BK, with traffic stopped in both directions.

But, adding my refrain to the verses of my story, he survived to grow up, was the valedictorian at Rome High, and is now in grad school at Harvard.

"You canNOT believe how much better that makes me feel!" Ruthann told us. "Caleb will live to grow up? He'll graduate from high school? Sometimes, at this stage of life, I wonder how we will both survive."