Thursday, September 2, 2010

I believe in Karma.

I got a big dose of Karmic Payback today.

Want to hear a story?  Pour yourself a coffee (or tea or wine...) and get comfy.

It has been well-established that my girl has a slightly stubborn streak.  We also know that my girl thinks she should be able to do many more things than her age and society say are OK for her to do.

Tomorrow is Matthew's birthday.  I packed up Emmett and Charlotte and took them to the store down the street so they could pick out gifts for their little brother.  On the way home we passed Richard pushing Matthew in the stroller.  I found out later that Matthew wanted to see where we went so it made his night when I tooted the car horn at him.

We pulled into the driveway a few minutes before Richard got home.  Charlotte asked if she could sit outside and wait for Daddy to come home.  I said yes.  She put her little deck chair on the sidewalk and sat down to wait.  After a short while she popped her head in the door and asked if she could walk down to the corner to see if she could spot the guys.  I said yes.  She promised she wouldn't go very far.  (cue ominous music)  Richard got home.  Charlotte was not with him.

Where was Charlotte?

We started a search.  She was not in the house.  She was not in the yard.  Richard did not see her on his walk home.

Where was Charlotte?

I start heading down the street, calling her name.  Suddenly I see her skipping down the sidewalk with a little girl, her dad and their two dogs.

I freak out as she explains to me that she couldn't find Daddy so she decided to go to the park.  (The playground at Emmett's school, 1/2 Km away from our house.) She assured me the little girl she was with was taking care of her.

I grow several more grey hairs.  After dealing out punishment I call my mom.

My mom tells me a story about her own little girl.  A little girl who, at two years of age, decided she needed to go visit her Daddy at work.  This little girl, two years old, left her house and walked down a highway to visit her Daddy at the car shop where he worked.

Karma is a bitch, isn't it?

4 comments:

Stacey said...

We lived at the very northern end of Rivers, as far from downtown as you could get. My sister had escaped the yard a few times before my mom finally broke down and got a harness to tie to the clothesline - it was long enough that Denise could go into the neighbour's yard to visit their dog.

The farthest Denise ever got before the harness was to the end of the block. We lived on a very quiet street, with the elementary school at one end and the hospital at the other. If any of the neighbours saw her wandering down the street, they'd either rescue her or call my mom.

Until the day she headed down to the railyard where my dad worked. She went six blocks, including the main shopping street and the highway that ran through town. It wasn't until she got on to the CN property that anyone noticed there was a 2 year old blonde girl toddling along, looking for her dad.

From that day on, until my parents could trust her to stay safe (no problem 28 years ago), she wore 2 harnesses, in hopes that it would take her more than a few minutes to get out of both of them.

I can hardly wait until my sister has a kid and has to deal with the same thing :)

EmmaNadine said...

I think the most potent curse in the history of mankind is "May your children be just like you."

Anonymous said...

I feel your pain. I temporarily "lost" a toddler in a busy park and it was the longest 20 minutes of my life.

Ami said...

Oh gosh.

I'm so glad everything turned out fine.

I've always thought it was very unfair that I got the child my mother in law wished on my husband... you know, the old, "Hope your kids turn out like you." thing.

:)