Babykins' First...Tsunami!

Thursday night after Babykins had gone to sleep, Hubbykins and I were watching TV when a weather warning scrolled across the bottom.  Being from the Northeast, these scrolls typically warn of strong storms, impending blizzards, or flash floods.  We were a little surprised when this one announced a...tsunami!

After studying the flood maps and discovering that our building is part of the tsunami evacuation zone (!), we began packing up in case we had to leave in a hurry.  Using her Extra Sensory Baby Perception, Babykins knew we were in the midst of something big and woke up crying.  After unsuccessfully trying to put her back to sleep, I brought Babykins out to the living room, where we were in the process of trying to decide exactly how many granola bars constituted a week's worth of non-perishable food.

While we kept an anxious eye on the news, Babykins played in our suitcase.  When we lugged clothing, first aid supplies, and extra batteries down to the car, Babykins rode in her carrier, delighting in the fact that she was going on an adventure in the middle of the night.  And three hours later, as the tsunami alarms blared in the street, Babykins slept peacefully in our bed, content that she had been part of something big .

3 AM came and went with no damage on our part of the island.  Hubbykins and I breathed a sigh of relief, and Babykins earned the right to one day tell everyone about how she made it through the Hawaiian Tsunami of 2011.

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).