Saturday, June 22, 2013

Andrew and Cara’s New York Escapades: The Elevator


My children are big fans of the Disney show Jesse, which takes place in New York City. In typical Disney fashion, the episodes play over and over and over. I could probably recall lines from each one because my children watch them no matter how many times they have played. There’s this one episode that Jesse loses several of the kids on the subway. It’s a funny episode, but not something you want to imagine as a mother happening to your children.

In spite of worries about losing my children in the city, we journeyed to New York City for our summer vacation. And in true life meets comedy fashion, we weren’t at the hotel ten minutes before we had our own comedy episode on our hands.

After putting the luggage down in our room, we headed out for Times Square. While I was trying to pull the room door closed, the kids ran ahead to see who could push the elevator button first. This is a typical competition and that’s usually as far as it goes. No big deal. Our room was near enough to the elevator that I could see them.

Andrew made it to the button first, so in true Cara fashion, she had to beat him. They extended the competition into who could get in the elevator first and press the down button.

Something they’d never done in the safety of our own community where the population wasn’t, oh, I don’t know, a million.

In the meantime, I’d finally figured out the obstacle to closing the room door, and I was half way to the elevator, calling out for them not to get in the elevator. I made it to the doors just as they closed with the voices of my kids behind them saying “Mom’s not here. Don’t press the button!”

They could have thought about that before they’d pressed the button.

I was the crazy woman pressing the button in hopes that the doors would open… they did not, or hoping that the second elevator would open so that I could at least get to the bottom before they did.

Seconds ticked by with my children in the elevator alone, and I pushed the button over and over, sure that the doors would open faster if I pushed it hard enough. Finally, after what felt like forever, the doors opened. I hurried and pressed the lobby floor and remained calm, assuring myself that they would be in the lobby when I got down. Andrew was a smart kid, right? He’d know what to do.

Thankfully, the elevator descended the 22 floors without stopping. I reached the lobby just in time to see the doors of Andrew and Cara’s elevator close with them staring at me.

At this point in time, calmness was giving way fast.

I did have just enough left to stand in front of the elevator doors and wait. I pushed the button for the elevator to return and waited for those doors to open.

I pushed thoughts of all the things that could happen with strangers entering and exiting elevators and stared at those doors.

A hotel employee passed and gave me a strange look and I told him I’d lost my kids on the elevator. Probably not the best thing to admit, but the fact that I was so calm didn’t seem to make him worry.

When those doors opened and two very frightened kids walked off the elevator, all I could do was laugh in relief. I held both of them to me as Andrew blamed Cara for pressing the button, and Cara asked with big eyes if she were punished.

We’re on vacation, who gets punished? But I did tell them that they were to be stepping on my toes at all times, and if they couldn’t stick to me like glue, than I’d be holding both their hands, not just Cara’s.

Andrew says he’d prefer to be on my heels. But it doesn’t matter how grown up he believes he is, holding my hand isn’t out of the question if he gets lost again. Cara held my hand every moment after during the trip. I had to make her let go when we reached the inside of the hotel room. Even Andrew at one point got cut off by a New Yorker, and I noticed some slick moves as he hurriedly got back to the point where his shoes were touching the back of my feet.

I’d say this was one comedic episode that came with a lesson, just like a Disney show.

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