Redeeming Myself

Yesterday, well, yesterday for me ... meaning Thursday ... I had several errands to run, along with appointments to get our hair done:  Laura and Nani's haircut, and mine too.

But after Laura got seated and draped in the chair I realized I left my checkbook at home.  So I left Laura at the beauty shop, and rushed back home to get it, and then I left Nani in the car while I ran to fetch it real quick.  I left the car running in the driveway because it was so hot, and I was in a hurry.  So I ran to the front door ... and, duh, I didn't have the keys. 

BUT the car automatically locks, if the car is running, after a door opens and closes. 

Soooooo ... Nani is locked in the car.  She was strapped into her carseat and couldn't get out to save herself.  None of our neighbors were home. My purse was in the front seat, so I couldn't get to my phone to call anybody for help and I was locked out of the house as well.

It was over 103 degrees, and I could see her little face getting redder and redder from her own little struggle and from the fact that the glaring sun was hitting the car full force.  The heat vapor surrounding the running car was accumulating, and it made it very difficult to stand near the car for long amounts of time. 

I admit, I began to cry ... and after 20 minutes of pleading and prodding Nani to try to do something she was just too little and too weak to do, which is to unlatch herself, I began searching for a brick or a rock or anything strong enough to whack the window to get to her ... running back and forth to the car to encourage and soothe her.   

It was a scary situation, and as the minutes ticked by, I was on the verge of a full-blown panic attack.

A man must have seen the spectacle from the main road, and whipped his truck around to see what was going on ... and he saved my baby girl after many attempts and much struggle ... going back and forth to get yet another some kind of tool ... I was pacing so much I could barely pay attention.  He was calm.  And he just kept telling me that he promised he'd get her back to me.

YES, he got tearful hugs of joy from both of us!

There is not a worse feeling in the world, for a mother, I don't think, when something stands between you and your child ... when you want your child, and you cannot get to your child  ... when your child NEEDS you, and you are helpless.
 
Yesterday ... well, yesterday for me ...  had 40+ minutes of pure torture. 

By the time, we calmed down and got our faces dabbed with cold washcloths ... and, oh, yeah, got the dadgum checkbook ... there were twelve missed calls from Laura, and Nani and I missed our chance to sit in the chair to get our special beauty treatment.

I could tell Nani was disappointed ... or felt something she didn't know the meaning of ... with me.  I had lost the "hero status" in her eyes.  Maybe she realized for the first time in her little life that Mama isn't so perfect after all.  Or the smartest mom in the world, nor the strongest.

Sad day.

 

I paid for Laura's hair, and pre-paid for mine and Nani's rescheduled appointment, and came home too exhausted to finish the rest of my errands ... let alone cook ... so we treated ourselves to our favorite chinese restaurant.

When we got back from that, while walking up to the front door, Nani saw two Bluejay fledglings that had fallen out of their nest.  She has very keen senses for this sort of thing.  Nani was troubled for their plight, and I knew I had to do something for the cats in the neighborhood would kill them during the night. 

So I gathered them up, one by one, into my hands ... with their angry parents screeching and swooping down to berate me ... and I took them inside to care for them.

Nani's eyes shown bright with love for me again ... and, for now, she loves her little rescued birdies .... and as soon as they are strong, she knows we will set them free ... as we have done for all the others we've saved.

Anyway ... the moral of this story.

Everytime I went outside today, well, today for me ... meaning Friday ... the parents continued to attack and screech and swoop me.  They even poop-splatted me on my back when I bent over to pick up the newspaper!

Goodness, Bluejays are brave! Vicious!

Something was between them and their helpless babies ... and they were furious!  Irrational.  Panic-stricken. Scared.

I smiled because I understood.

And I just kept calmly telling them that I PROMISED I'd get their babies back to them soon.