My children and I had the great experience of attending the Playschool Concert. What a way to cram 50+ well known childhood songs into one 40 minute block of time. Needless to say, my children were mesmorised by Abbie and Tao from beginning to end as I was duly preoccupied watching their antics.
The events to follow this occassion were pretty amazing and so I will divulge...
One of my friends who joined us at the concert had parked near me so we walked together as we left. We came to my car first and of course still had far too much to converse about so as I kept up my chinwagging, I mindlessly strapped Nadia into her seat. As I shut the door, terror struck as I realise that in the delay of unlocking the car and actually opening the main door, my car had automatically locked, leaving trapped inside my daughter, my handbag, my keys and my mobile!
The minutes (or proabably seconds) to follow saw all the issues presenting themselves compound to the point that I could almost feel my throat close over and my heart leap out of my chest: I couldn't get to my phone to call Andy - and even if I could, he was in Victor Harbor which would've made his rescue with the other set of keys a good 2 hours away; I couldn't ring RAA because I didn't have my card or in fact the number that one must ring - and even if I could, how long were they away? What if she started crying? What if Eli started getting upset outside the car (it was lunchtime afterall!)...
At that moment a thought struck: could I undo all of the training I had given Nadia to result in the car being opened? It was worth a try... here's how it went:
Me: (tapping on her window) "NADIA! unclip yourself
Nadia: (eyes light up... 'could she really be asking me to do this?')
Me: Good girl. Now, climb into the front seat
Nadia: (eyes light up... 'could she really be asking me to do this?')
Me: Good girl. Now look in Mummy's handbag and find the keys
Nadia: (while no words had come out of her mouth, she seemed to say 'OK' and started searching)
THEN
Nadia: (with eyes even more lit up) A 'LOON MUMMY!!!
Me: Put the balloon down Nadia and find my keys... MY KEYS (it must be noted that I was using everything I had to remain calm here... BLOODY BALLOON... WHAT WAS A BLOODY BALLOON DOING IN MY BAG???)
I'm pretty sure at the stage Nadia was probably thinking that despite my pleas with her to put the balloon down, I wasn't able to stop her and the lure of having uninterupted balloon time was far too precious. It took a LOT of convincing and visual cues from my friend involving her keys for Nadia to consider puting the balloon down. She finally found the keys.
Me: OK. Now press the GREEEEEEEEEEEEEN button... No, the GREEEEEEEEEEEEEEN button.
BINGO!!!
It took a fair chunk of the trip to my parent's house to rid my body of the adrenaline. But in the end I marvel at my daughter's instruction following abilities in this instance - especially when I consider the contrast of this display in terms of everyday life with her!
Ahh the unpredictability of a two year old!
The events to follow this occassion were pretty amazing and so I will divulge...
One of my friends who joined us at the concert had parked near me so we walked together as we left. We came to my car first and of course still had far too much to converse about so as I kept up my chinwagging, I mindlessly strapped Nadia into her seat. As I shut the door, terror struck as I realise that in the delay of unlocking the car and actually opening the main door, my car had automatically locked, leaving trapped inside my daughter, my handbag, my keys and my mobile!
The minutes (or proabably seconds) to follow saw all the issues presenting themselves compound to the point that I could almost feel my throat close over and my heart leap out of my chest: I couldn't get to my phone to call Andy - and even if I could, he was in Victor Harbor which would've made his rescue with the other set of keys a good 2 hours away; I couldn't ring RAA because I didn't have my card or in fact the number that one must ring - and even if I could, how long were they away? What if she started crying? What if Eli started getting upset outside the car (it was lunchtime afterall!)...
At that moment a thought struck: could I undo all of the training I had given Nadia to result in the car being opened? It was worth a try... here's how it went:
Me: (tapping on her window) "NADIA! unclip yourself
Nadia: (eyes light up... 'could she really be asking me to do this?')
Me: Good girl. Now, climb into the front seat
Nadia: (eyes light up... 'could she really be asking me to do this?')
Me: Good girl. Now look in Mummy's handbag and find the keys
Nadia: (while no words had come out of her mouth, she seemed to say 'OK' and started searching)
THEN
Nadia: (with eyes even more lit up) A 'LOON MUMMY!!!
Me: Put the balloon down Nadia and find my keys... MY KEYS (it must be noted that I was using everything I had to remain calm here... BLOODY BALLOON... WHAT WAS A BLOODY BALLOON DOING IN MY BAG???)
I'm pretty sure at the stage Nadia was probably thinking that despite my pleas with her to put the balloon down, I wasn't able to stop her and the lure of having uninterupted balloon time was far too precious. It took a LOT of convincing and visual cues from my friend involving her keys for Nadia to consider puting the balloon down. She finally found the keys.
Me: OK. Now press the GREEEEEEEEEEEEEN button... No, the GREEEEEEEEEEEEEEN button.
BINGO!!!
It took a fair chunk of the trip to my parent's house to rid my body of the adrenaline. But in the end I marvel at my daughter's instruction following abilities in this instance - especially when I consider the contrast of this display in terms of everyday life with her!
Ahh the unpredictability of a two year old!
