911

Yesterday I was at the grocery store with my favorite little guy. As we walk through, he does what he often does and picks up the pay phone, pretends to dial and talk, etc. I keep walking and tell him to, "Come on..." He catches up to me and shares that he just dialed 911. I lean down and say that he better not have called 911, that's for emergencies. He says he's just joking with me and that he dialed 922. Hmm, I wonder

30 seconds later a woman from customer service comes tearing through the store asking employees if anyone dialed 911 because the fire department called. Everyone is saying no and my stomach drops through the floor. My little helper has already moved on and is looking at the old fashioned car that is parked in the lobby of the store, oblivious to all of the chaos he's created.

I lean down to tell Evan that he told me he was just joking about the 911 call and now there is an employee asking everyone, "Who called 911?" I tell him the fire department has magic powers and can tell someone called. Evan's face drops, turns red, tears come, and he pulls his head into his shirt. "I want to go home now Mom, I just want to go home. I'm REALLY tired." He is panicked and I feel for him. I do what a good mother does and track down this woman to confess and have Evan say he's sorry.

The woman is relieved to know it was a false alarm and also is happy to know that Evan knows how to use 911. He apologizes while half of his face is hiding in his shirt. I think he feels like he's about to die of embarrassment, and I feel his pain. She is forgiving and all is well. Evan is amazed that the fire department knew because Evan had not said one word on the phone. Lesson learned.

So as we're driving away he asks if 911 is only for grown ups and I tell him that kids sometime need to use it too, in an emergency when the parent can't make the call. I make up a story about a mommy about to have a baby who can't make it to the hospital. She's about to have the baby on the floor at her house. She can't make it to the phone. I tell Evan the little boy makes the 911 call to help his mom. "From inside her tummy!?" he asks. NO, not the baby, the big brother makes the call! Ugh....never mind!