sanaa’s personal introduction to firefighters

sanaa got locked in ma-ma-ma’s (translation: grandma sylvia’s) car last week.
ma-ma-ma and i were putting sanaa’s car seat in her (ma-ma-ma’s) rental.
sanaa started playing around with the key fob,
opening and closing doors n whatnot.
ma-ma-ma takes the keys from sanaa
and throws them in the front passenger seat
and proceeds to buckle the car seat.
with the car seat in place,
and sanaa in it,
ma-ma-ma shuts the door and instantly realizes that
the keys are in the front passenger seat
in a locked car!
we try to get sanaa to unbuckle her seat,
to reach the door and unlock it,
to wiggle out of her seat and get the keys,
something!
ma-ma-ma calls the car rental company
and they say they won’t be able to send someone out until 1 to 1.5 hours later.
“call 911″ they advise.
instead i wake up daddy
who shakes his head and tries to do what he can,
summoning up his hoodlum days.
“call 911″ ma-ma-ma and daddy tell me after trying all they can think of.
i call 311 — non-emergency help –
and get transferred to the fire department.
“my 3 y/o is locked in a car,” i tell them
with concern, but not much of a sense of urgency.
i’m walking around with rahmah
trying to remain calm
while ishaq and ma-ma-ma try to keep sanaa calm
and the next thing you know
2 fire engines,
1 ambulance
and 2 police cars are on our street!
they end up slim-jimming the passenger side door
and sanaa calls out for her daddy.

how many firefighters does it take to rescue a 3 y/o from a car?: seven
just kidding!
i’m definitely donating to the fire and police department this year.

ma-ma-ma’s version:

And who was the first person Sanaa asked for
when firefighters opened the door and Ma-Ma-Ma
unbuckled and lifted her from the car seat?
No-o-o . . . Not her Mama.
No-o-o-o. . . Not her Ma-Ma-Ma.
Yes . . . Her Daddy!
Although Ma-Ma-Ma wanted to hold her and kiss her and console her,
Sanaa, with outstretched arms, couldn’t see her Daddy . . .
but kept calling his name . . . D-a-a-d-dy . . . Da-a-a-d-dy . . . D-a-a-d-dy . . .
until she was safe in his arms and had tightly wrapped both arms around his neck,
never looking back at Mama and Ma-Ma-Ma.

You should know . . .
Sanaa was a real champ! My hat’s off to a super smart 3-year old little girl!
She did everything we asked her to do — that she could do.
Her parents have taught her well. She followed instructions to the “t” . . .
She was able to “squeeze” and unbuckle the top part of the car seat harness assembly
and release her shoulders.
She wiggled herself close enough to the “pull-up” button on the locked door
but her tiny fingers were not strong enough to pull up on the slim (child proof) design.
She pressed “real hard” on the red button in the seat belt assembly between her legs
but was unable to press hard enough to release the (child proof) latch.
She was able to reach . . . and pulled firmly on the (child proof) door handle several times
but the door would not open (as you would want under normal circumstances).
She tried and tried and finally . . calmly and firmly told us, “It’s not working . . .”
while little drops of perspiration beaded on her top lip — from trying so hard.
After trying and trying. . . tiny tears dropped from the corners of her eyes
(while Ma-Ma-Ma’s heart pounded and pounded and she held back her tears)
but Sanaa quickly wiped away her tears as if she didn’t want us to see her cry.
We were looking for rocks and tree limbs and a hammer or whatever . . .
to break one of the car windows but firefighters arrived in time to defer that decision point . . .
thanks to Sanaa’s calmness, determination and bravery in a tense situation.

Ma-Ma-Ma is so proud of Sa-na-na-na!!!

So now I keep my keys in my purse, or in my pocket, on top of the car, on the ground, in my bra, in my mouth — anywhere outside the car!

Lesson learned.

Ma-Ma-Ma Sylvia