Kendall is a little obsessed with elevators ever since our stay at the Embassy Suites with the glass ones that he could look out. He loves to push the buttons and go in and out of them and up and down. Last week we took my dad to some doctor’s appointments and had to wait an hour for him to get out, so I entertained Kendall part of the time by riding the elevators.
Then, between my dad’s appointments, we were hanging out in the hall, my dad chasing Kendall (who happened to have commandeered my phone and appeared to be texting someone), while I was checking out something of minimal importance on my dad’s Iphone. The second doctor emerged and called for my dad who then turned around and headed back to the office, about 50 feet away. Clearly, it’s been a while since my dad has dealt with a sly toddler, and I have obviously underestimated how fast and sneaky toddlers can be.
They happened to be standing right by the elevators when all this happened and at the very moment my dad turned around and headed back, the elevator opened, Kendall toddled in (still texting, looking very businesslike in his polo shirt and plaid pants) and I nearly shit my pants as I screamed, “Sco…DAD…ELEVATOR!!!” Then I started hauling ass across the hall, freaking out the doctor, figuring in my head that I’d get there faster than I could get my thoughts from my brain out of my mouth.
My dad managed to reach inside the elevator and grab Kendall just as the doors were shutting.
Oh….My…GOD. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I have no idea what we would have done if the doors had shut! The elevator didn’t say if it went up or down. There were 7 floors and we were on the 4th. The mommy visions started the minute he was successfully rescued from the elevator. What if…what if…what if? Ugh. I hate to think of it all.
Despite the mommy visions and the what ifs, it’s definitely one of those experiences that’s funny to look back on, you know, since it ended well, and all. I feel bad, but all I can do now is laugh at how funny it would have been for a doctor on another floor to see Kendall standing there, as the elevator opened, still “texting” in his little man outfit, just like a tiny little business professional. My own little Doogie Howser.
Kendall is exactly 14 months old