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.
