By Tobi Schwartz-Cassell
I will never forget that day in December 1988. I had just given birth to my son—my 
first child—the month before. It was grocery shopping day, so I bundled him up, then I bundled me up, then we scooted to the car and I locked Richard securely into his car seat. Just that morning, my husband Stan had warned me to never allow the car to idle for too long with the heat on and the baby inside. He said that the exhaust could build up to a dangerous level. Needless to say, I took his warning very seriously.
I sang to Richard the whole way to the Super Fresh at Builder’s Square Shopping Center (now known as Marlton Crossing Shopping Center where there’s a Burlington Coat Factory, a HomeGoods and a Michael’s).
Once there, I parked the car, got out and locked my door. As a careful new mother, I methodically locked all the doors to protect Richard until I got to his door. I happily counted them as I locked them, “One, two, three, four! Four????” I’d locked my child in the car! With the engine on! And the heat running! I did exactly what Stan told me NOT to do! About one second later, Richard started to cry. Then I started to cry.
I hated to leave him there all alone, but there wasn’t a sole around, and I had to do something! (This was 1988, and I didn’t own a cell phone.) So I ran into the Super Fresh and blubbered all over the Guest Services lady who refused to call the police! I ran back to the car, and soon after, a man (an angel?) came out of the store and told me he’d used the pay phone to call the police. As soon as the police got there, they did their thing to unlock my door, and we all lived happily ever after.
But that night, I left Richard with my husband so I could go to the mall and buy the 
biggest keychain I could find. I came across a big gold-tone hoop and bought it immediately because I could just slip it over my wrist like a bracelet, as soon as I took my key out of the ignition.
Richard is 26 now, and doesn’t seem any worse for the wear. He graduated college, supports himself, and is a contributing member of society. I still use that giant hoop, and not a week goes by that someone doesn’t ask me why I carry such an unusually large keychain. And when they ask, I think of Baby Richard and I smile.
Do you have a crazy-new-mom story? Please make me feel a little less alone in my early innocence and share it in the comments section below. Thanks!
With ♥,
I never had any kids but one time I had a 1971 Barracuda and locked the car while running at the Dr office while I cleaned off the snow from my car and had to get a hanger from the Dr’s office to get it unlocked. Back then you didn’t have all these computers and locks. To top it off my hand bag was in the car with my spare key!!!!!!!!!! LOL
Thanks, Dar. I guess it’s not just new moms who go through things like this. 🙂
So, Jaxon was 2 months old and had just received his 2 month shots. My poor baby was crying in pain and just not happy. All I wanted to do was cuddle him, get him home and cuddle him some more. IT was also October, and a chilly night, so I had the zip up cover on his car seat to keep him warm. I placed him carefully in his car seat and zipped him up, all the while telling him how much I love him and how good he did taking his shots. I got him home and brought him and his car seat into the house. I unzipped him and went to unbuckle him from the car seat, when I saw, I DID NOT BUCKLE HIM INTO HIS CAR SEAT!!!! I was terrified! All I could think was, “Thank G-d, I did not have an accident!” He is now 8 months old and still perfectly fine and Mommy ALWAYS triple checks the car seat!!!!
Now that’s a great–although harrowing–story, Deb. Thanks for sharing! Give Jaxon a hug from me.