I was almost one of THOSE moms

Back in 2008, Trev was a baby with colic. His brother, Mark (5 years earlier), and he had it bad. Trev hated the car and it was a tough time going anywhere because he was always crying when we went somewhere. 

When Trev was about 5 or 6 months old, my bestie, Christina, and I went to Food Lion in order to get some food for a get together. We took Trev with us. All the way to Food Lion, we were talking and having fun as best friends do. Just excited about spending the evening with our families and having a blast.

We arrive to Food Lion. I got out of the car and start walking towards the entrance to Food Lion. As I got to my trunk area, Christina looks at me and says "Forgetting something?" I look at her puzzled. "No...why?" She looked at me and replied "Ummm….your child?"

OMGoodness!!! For the first time everrrrr, Trev had fallen asleep in the car. In his whole 5-6 month life, he had never, ever, fallen asleep in the car.....and here I was about to leave him in there. Talk about the guilt. I was already a mom to 3 and I had never done this. I was in shock that I could've even almost. Yes, I was tired and mommy fogged (all those colicky days can do that to you), but that was no excuse.

Now, granted, I didn't make it away from the car. However, I could've been a number in this terrrrible statistic. I could've been the one to come back to my car and found my child suffering or kidnapped. I could've added to the numbers of children who have died from heat or cold from being left in the car (even tho I was only in Food Lion for about 15 mins....I still feel this). I could've added to the number of children who were kidnapped from not being with their parents.

Now....I am not making excuses for people who have left their kids in their car on purpose...or ones who forgotten them for hours. Because I would've noticed Trev once I got back to the car...or noticed when I had one less child at home (we would do number roll call with our kids by age....just ask #1 and #2...my heart daughters 😄😄). But I also know the rare instance that it can happen in the blink of an eye. 

I am glad my bestie was there. I can't even imagine the heartache I would've had if anything had happened to Trev. But I also understand the quick instance it can happen. I hate to hear of the stories. I hate to hear when it's on purpose or done blatantly. I can't fathom that....but I can see it happening when something is sooooo normal (Trev crying all the time in the car) isn't there anymore (the first time he fell asleep).

No....it never happened before.....or since. It was this one time and it made me super aware that it can happen. It feels me with guilt everytime I hear people doing it....and in comes the comments from others. Yes, I agree with their comments....I feel the stab everytime I hear people write about it. I feel the pain of the "What ifs"

I was almost one of THOSE moms.