Mama Lesson: Keys

I often use the excuse that the baby won't go to sleep as an excuse to get in the car and head to the shops. Minutes before leaving I posted on the trainee mama facebook page the following: 'MUST.AVOID.MID.YEAR.SALES' and I genuinely thought that I could. I had planned to head to the Salvation Army family store in Maroochydore to try and pick up some toy animals to spray paint gold after I fell in love with an awesome idea on the honeyandfizz instagram account. I wasn't ready to go home yet and just thought I'd pop in to Rebel Sport to check out what they had on sale. That then turned in to the idea that I needed to visit Coles as I had forgotten a bottle {and formula} for Ned {and he was starting to get a bit restless} and then the lure of the sale signs beat me. I visited a lot of shops but avoided most sales - only a half price 'teen home' quilt cover from Target and a pair of tiger print Adidas sneakers for Ned (for $19.95!) ended up in the ample pram storage compartment ... oh and the current 3 pack BWS special on sauv blanc. Ned and I were more than ready to head home just before 6pm and we headed to the car. When we got there I could not find the keys.

And so, one of the worst three hours of my life began.

I headed straight to the Myer baby change room to see if I had left the keys there. No luck. Panic and stress appeared. The staff there were AMAZING. So sympathetic when I let them know I had lost my keys ... that those keys were the only keys we had for the car ... and that my husband does not have a baby car seat in his car. Special mention to Annette, a team leader in the menswear department who genuinely offered to drive Ned and I home in her car as she had a baby car seat in her car for her granddaughter. She even tried to underplay the offer by saying that the seat wasn't top of the line, and that unfortunately she couldn't just loan it to me {to put in td's car} as she had to pick up her granddaughter the next morning. I seriously could not believe the generousity.

I knew I had to retrace my steps into every store I visited, plus customer service {who weren't overly customer service-y} and police beat where Mr senior constable told me that 'generally keys don't get handed in' ... FIRE TRUCK. The uber fabulous Katy Potaty came to join me in support after a long day at work and I'm sure enjoyed her Ned time even though I probably wasn't the best company. We even visited Mr Minit and he was the unlucky one to deliver the news that a new key could be in excess of $500. Perfect.

To say trainee daddy was less than impressed was an understatement. When he arrived at the plaza after completing a longer than normal work day, he nearly drove me to tears trying to act as if it would never have lost the keys and would never give them to the baby. We did more walking. By then I had lost hope. I reckon I would have easily walked 10kms back and forth, in and out with no luck. Some shops {honorary mentions to Best & Less and Kmart} were fantastic; others were less than sympathetic. With about fifteen minutes left before the shops shut, we walked out of Target and a lady dressed in a lovely denim shirt named Lee from Katies {where I tried on two really awesome jackets *see instagram} asked whether I was the lady who had lost the keys. I don't think I actually gave her a yes ... I instead asked in disbelief whether she had them. Had them she did. Discovered them while vacumming under a rack.

Holy Guacamole.

Both trainee daddy and I couldn't believe our luck. Yes, we high fived and the tension between us disappeared and the mood instantly brightened.

I insisted we go back to Myer to thank Annette for her kindness and received the most genuine, heartfelt hug I've received in a long time. She was so happy that the keys had been found ... and that Ned had finally given in and gone to sleep. Now I'm in no way religious, but man, that was a miracle.

Trainee Mama Lesson I: do not give the baby the keys