Why parents get gray hair

So my wife picked me up from work with both boys. We headed to the grocery store to pick up some food. When we got out of the store, I went to put the groceries away in the trunk and my wife tried to get the boys into the car seats. Oliver went first. He was being especially difficult, so my wife tossed her wallet (that contained the car keys) into the front seat so that she could use both hands to get him in his seat. Finally she got Oliver in his car seat. And then she closed the door. And I closed the trunk. And the car was locked. Apparently the wallet/keys had bounced just right or the car decided that the doors had been unlocked for just long enough. Whatever the cause we now had our toddler stapped into his car seat locked in a black car on a scorcher of a day.

My wife called 911 while I tried to talk my son through unbuckling his harness. Despite all of those weeks of "I do it," he wasn't able to get either the belt open or the chest strap. His legs were just not long enough to be able to do more than be able to touch the door handle, so he couldn't open it.

There was a UCity fire ambulance in the parking lot. We caught the one of the UCity firemen coming out of the store and asked if they could help. They didn't have the tools in the ambulance, but were willing to call for help if we needed it.

A few minutes went by before the Ladue police car arrived. The police officer didn't have the tools needed to open the door. He called for help from the Ladue fire department. The UCity fireman called for his guys as well so that we had backup in case their toolset didn't work. Meanwhile, we tried to help Oliver figure out how to open the door to no avail again. He said that he could break a window if he had to, but he obviously would prefer not to have to.

A couple more minutes went by and a Ladue fire engine arrived. They started working on the door with a jimmy. But the anti-theft measures made the jimmy ineffective. As they were working, the UCity fire engine arrived. The UCity guys went at it with a wedge and a long hook. With the car alarm going off, they unlocked the doors and we rescued Oliver from the car.

The firemen tried to take Oliver inside the fire engine where the air conditioning was going, but he is terrified of getting in the inside of the fire engine. They tried to take Oliver into the air conditioning of the police car. Same reaction. Finally I picked him up and took him into the shade and let him relax against me. They gave him a cool towel for his head and some cool water to drink. A nice lady from Schnucks brought him an orange balloon. The police officer gave him a badge.

I tried to say thank you to the police officer and the firemen. But how do you do that? They were glad to get the thanks, but I think they were all more just happy that everything turned out all right.

Through the ordeal, Oliver was a trooper. I think it helped that both my wife and I were there and that neither one of us was acting terribly frantic. It helped that we chose to park in a somewhat shaded spot. It helped that Oliver likes police cars and fire trucks. It helped that the whole thing only lasted 30 minutes or so. But Oliver was just really brave.

Finally we strapped everyone in and headed home to unload the groceries before going out to eat. As I opened his door something bopped me in the face. I moved my head out of the way and bent down to help unbuckle him. He asked me where his ballon went. I looked upwards to see his orange balloon floating away into the sky.

After dealing with a justifiably unhappy toddler we went out to eat. For some reason, I thought Ethiopian food would be fun. If you haven't tried eating Ethiopian food with a toddler, let me suggest that you DON'T. It's not fun. Especially when someone is a bit frazzled and has sharing issues.

A real, live boy!

After five days of moving like an old man, I'm starting to be able to move like myself again. I don't have to contort my arms and shoulders, to wriggle my body and to finally push myself up into a semi-sitting position. I don't have to use both arms to gently lower myself into a chair. I can walk with minimal pain. It's been nice shedding the shackles of the supine and get vertical again. I'm still not 100%, but I'm getting there.

There are still the things that I still can't do. I'm not supposed to lift heavy objects like car seats or misbehaving toddlers. Apparently I can't wear pants that fit appropriately across my midsection either. I don't feel comfortable driving yet. And if I'm in bed when a child needs me to come comfort them, they just have to suck it up for an extra couple of minutes while I flail out of bed.

I know things are getting better and I'm encouraged. It's just hard to keep that in the forefront of my mind all the time.

Oversharing

Is it oversharing to say that when I finally went poopy in the potty that I was so proud of myself that I wanted to show someone? Thankfully, no pictures are attached.

Let the healing begin!

I've got a brand new scar and a pain in my groin that keeps me close to horizontal. I've had a couple of vertical jaunts that levelled me, so for the time being I'm going to avoid the big V. One trip to the bathroom in the middle of the night caused me tosee spots and then ground. Another trip to join my family for lunch had to be aborted when I started seeing spots again. My parents are in town and have been keeping me company, while my wife tends to a toddler, an infant, and an invalid. It might be easier to tend to the toddler if it weren't 101 outside or if he'd get the sleep that everyone so obviously needs.

But all of this aside, I've had the surgery that will enable me to be a more able husband, father, and friend. For that I'm thankful.