Bad Mommy

Babykins gave me a huge scare today, which not only added a few gray hairs to my head, but got me thinking about the "Bad Mommy" moments I've had in the last 8 months.  If you've recently had a baby, or are thinking about having one soon, read on and know that you will eventually do something stupid, and you're not alone.

Three weeks after moving to Hawaii, we moved into our apartment.  One of the great draws for the building is its security.  Along with friendly security staff, everyone must use a key card to enter the building and work the elevators.

Our first week there, I took Babykins on a walk, double checking as I left that I had both my apartment key and my security card.  We took a stroll through the local mall, then went back to the building, heading for the disability entrance on the ground floor.

For some unknown reason, the disability entrance has the heaviest gate ever.  I swiped my key card, pried open the gate, shoved through the stroller containing Babykins, and felt the gate pull out of my hand.  Just as it slammed shut, I saw with horror that both my key card and cell phone were inside the building with Babykins, while I was locked outside on the sidewalk.

I was panicked.  There were no security guards around, and the only other way to get into the building was through the open lobby one floor up.  I couldn't leave Babykins alone that long, but I couldn't just stand there hoping someone would happen to go through that entrance at 10 AM on a work day.

Luckily, I'd noticed the grounds crew working a few feet down the sidewalk, and after explaining the situation in very poor Spanish, starting to cry, and finally dragging one man with me and pointing to my infant on the wrong side of the gate, a worker took pity on me and used his security card to open the gate and reunite hyperventilating me with a smiling and completely un-fazed Babykins.

It has by far been my worst "Bad Mommy" moment to date.

In a side note, I finally noticed about a month later that right next to the gate is a buzzer that calls the security office.  To quote Homer Simpson, "Doh!"

Have a "Bad Mommy" moment of your own?  Make me and every other new mom feel better.  Share it in the comments section (but nothing that would require us to contact 1-800-4ACHILD, please).