A Big Scare

I have a terrible habit of leaving my keys in my car. I mean, I grew up in Blanding - who doesn't leave their keys in their car in Blanding? Well, I learned my lesson the hard way - when you have a 21 month old baby that knows how to open car doors, it doesn't matter where you live, you should never leave your keys in your car - especially if you don't have a spare! Yesterday at about 4:00 pm I went to pick Stetson up from my sister's house after I got off work. He was still asleep, so we were sitting there visiting. About 4:30 he woke up and him and his cousin J.D. went outside to play. After a few minutes I went outside to check on them, and couldn't find them anywhere. Suddenly I heard my car door shut, and J.D. came walking out from around the house. I just knew he had left Stetson in there alone, and I prayed that they hadn't locked the doors, because once again, I had left my keys in the car (after all, I was just going to run in and get Stetson). I ran to the car, and it was locked; my sweet little son was smiling at me through the window. I took a deep breath and tried not to panic. I started talking to Stetson, trying to get him to push the unlock button, but he didn't understand and just kept trying to open the door. My sister ran in the house to get a hanger and I tried another approach. I told Stetson to get mommy's keys, and surprisingly he knew right where they were. I tried to get him to push the buttons on the little unlocker thing, but he just held up the key, proud that he had done what I had asked him to do. It was about 92 degrees outside, and I am guessing the temperature in my car was much warmer than that, as it had been sitting in the sun all day and I have black leather seats. I could see the sweat beads starting to form on Stetson's nose, and his cheeks were starting to get red. Candice came back with the hanger and we did everything we could think of. We didn't call the cops because the last time my keys were locked in my car and I called the cops they said that they didn't have the equipment to get into my car, and they would just have to break the window. Luckily that time the door was slightly open, and they were able to stick a bar in and unlock the door, but this time we didn't have that option. I called Kenny and Candice called Josh, and we kept trying. When Stetson realized that he was trapped, he started to cry. By now he was sweating so much that his hair was wet, and his whole face was bright red. I panicked! I picked up a large rock and hit the window as hard as I could - to my surprise, it didn't break! I tried again and again, but only succeeded in scratching the window. Of course this upset Stetson even more, and he started screaming. By now I was sobbing, not only out of frustration, but also out of fear; my son was in real danger, and I was helpless - worse than that, I was to blame. Can you imagine how Kenny felt when he pulled up to this sight? Josh got there about the same time, and when he saw Kenny pulling his ax out of the back of his truck he said, "wait, that will cost you $1,000!" "I don't care" Kenny said, and then took a swing. I will never forget the sound of that window shattering, I felt a combination of relief and pain. It seemed like it took Kenny forever to open the door and pull Stetson out. I just wanted to hug him and never, ever let go; but he was covered in tiny pieces of glass, and was already bleeding a little on his arm and leg. We got him cleaned up and cooled down, and after two popsicles, he even calmed down. I think it probably took me longer to calm down, and I am sure I will probably have nightmares about it for quite awhile. I am so grateful that Kenny was in town, and able to come and help, and that Stetson was okay. Even when we make stupid mistakes, the Lord watches out for us, and I am so grateful for that! I learned a great lesson, and plan to get a spare key as soon as possible!