Scary Moment

Mommy let baby play with the car keys while she gassed up the truck today, and it proved to be a happy and good distraction until baby pushed the door-lock button on the key ring and locked herself in the truck. Mommy called AAA and the fire department (and daddy), and by the time I got to the scene baby had been extricated by some helpful firemen. (They didn’t even have to break any glass.) Mommy, who’d seen her daughter sweating through the window for several minutes prior to the firemen’s arrival, was by this point calming down. But it wasn’t an easy experience, and I was glad to be able to soothe her. We celebrated everyone’s health and safety with a large mushroom pizza at our usual destination and then drove home to watch “Blue Hawaii.”

Remote Control

It has happened more than once that baby has sweetly asked to be brought to my lap, sat there good-naturedly, and then reached from her new perch for the true object of her interest – my cell phone, usually. That I can be psyched out so easily by one so young is not necessarily a good sign, although I prefer to turn it around and say that my daughter’s ability to multi-task while focusing on an ultimate aim, albeit a deceptive one, bespeaks potent brain power that I hope she turns to good use. It is inevitable, meanwhile, that she be attracted to the wealth of electronic gadgetry surrounding her. When I was her age, cell phones, personal computers, cordless phones, remote controls for the TV, digital cameras, and microwave ovens had yet to be invented. What inventions will accompany the arrival of the next generation, I wonder?