Monday, February 23, 2009

Claire, Temporary Superhero

Here’s a quick and easy way to completely impress your young child. Find a parking lot (any will do) and wait until a car (extra points for it being a mid-size SUV) starts to roll backwards without anyone driving it. Notice that car with ghost driver is about to roll backwards into a parked car (extra points if that parked car is your car). Yell to child to stay on sidewalk as you dash into parking lot and, using your Mommy skills and strength, stop car with your bare hands.

I tested this out today after leaving Laura’s doctor’s office, and I’m pleased to report that it thus far has a 100% success rate at wowing young kids. I only wish I had had the foresight enough to use just one hand as I stopped the runaway car-that would have been even more impressive.

My favorite part of this whole ordeal was when I went back into the building to report the runaway car. No one in Laura’s doctor’s office would claim ownership, so we went to the next office to inquire, as the car was blocking part of the parking lot (and my only way of getting out). As I walked by the door leading to the parking lot, I noticed the car was gone! So we went back outside and saw the car being driven away (by a real person this time). I was able to stop them before they left and it turned out the driver was a very young teenage girl. I told her what had transpired and she was very apologetic and said she hadn’t put on the parking brake. There was no harm done, and I told her I had stopped her just to give her a heads up as to why her car was in the middle of the parking lot (I’m sure she was wondering-at least I hope she was). She thanked me again; we went on our way, me with my ego momentarily inflated by my superhero skills.

In retrospect, I have to admit I was surprised when she told me that she just didn't put on the parking brake. That could have been a pretty costly oversight for her, because I would not have been happy if my brand new VW ended up with a smashed bumper. When I was a new driver, my father drilled it into my head to ALWAYS USE THE PARKING BRAKE. It’s called the parking brake for a reason, right? I know it’s fairly passé to use it nowadays, but I present this story as a good reason to do so. You just never know when your car may decide to go joy riding without you.

And as usual, feel free to apply this to your own life as needed. I guarantee it will impress your child! Sadly though, it didn't really impress the Army Man so I can't make any promises for how other adults will react.

9 comments:

Martha@A Sense of Humor is Essential said...

Ta-Da, Claire, SUPERMOM!
Can I tell you that you scared me a little about your safety?
Glad all's well that ends well.

Christina - Rant Rave Roll said...

You'll get the hang of this superhero thing soon. So what should we call you? And will you wear a cape? :-)

This Little Hen said...

That is awesome~ Way to go... but then again we always knew moms were Super Heros!

Three Dog Days said...

Oooo! I'm impressed! What if it hadn't worked and you had been squished?

I stopped a run away shopping cart on Sunday, but sadly, it was my own! I also stopped a run away standard poodle who was running amok and on a seperate occasion a herd of horses that were also running amok. That is probably the most impressive and the most stupid. Of course, it was my fault they got out, so I had to do something to stop them...

I think your super hero name should be MOM WOMAN! or maybe CLAIRE IS I! but that might make keeping your identity a secret a bit harder.

Claire said...

Don't worry, it was all perfectly safe. The car wasn't moving that fast as the parking lot wasn't really sloped or anything. Maybe that is why the Army Man wasn't too impressed.

I think another show of strength or daring is needed before I can assign myself a superhero name. I like Mom Woman (to the rescue!)

I think I'll wear a really cute pair of shoes instead of a cape...maybe some sneakers with MW embroidered on them?

DomesticDivasFancy said...

If you email me Moxies Picture I can do it...I just got photoshop and I am having a blast! I am running out of things to photoshop! LOL

Michelle said...

Wow...all these cool tricks to impress the kids! I'll have to keep those in my back pocket just in case!

Bah! On the Army Man...he should be impressed with your feats of strength!

DomesticDivasFancy said...

Your posts always crack me up!!! You so are super mom!

But yes we need to see the cape :)

Older and Wiser said...

The same thing happened to our VW van at the Bank of America parking lot. Mom parked it at one place and came back to the van to find it several spaces away where it had rolled until it ended up against the bumper of another car. Got to remember that emergency brake!