This toddler had the time of his life getting rescued after he locked himself in the car
Discovering that your toddler locked himself in the car would certainly be a scary situation. For the parents, that is. When 14-month-old Brandon Emery accidentally locked himself in his mother’s car, she was understandably upset. Brandon, however, looks like he took it all in stride.
This is how it all went down: U.K. mom Kirsty Green was attempting to unload her groceries into the trunk of her car when Brandon kept trying to stand up inside the cart.
To prevent him from falling and hurting himself, she decided to place him in the car, where he climbed into the front seat and busied himself playing with the steering wheel.
Toddler Prank
Meanwhile, Green absentmindedly placed her keys in the trunk. When she was done loading the groceries, Green walked around the side of the car. That’s when Brandon gleefully smacked the lock down.
“I was a bit panicky at first, wondering how I was going to get him out, but luckily a few other shoppers quickly came to help me out, and one lady working in Lidl phoned 101,” Green told the Mirror. (That’s the British version of the police non-emergency line!)
Time Of His Life
Firefighters swiftly arrived on the scene and began trying to free Brandon.
As you can see in the photo below from Facebook, the little boy seemed to be having the time of his life as firefighters attempted to rescue him:
While the firefighters used hand tools to try to unlock the doors, Brandon put a coin in his mouth.
“That’s when I started to panic, because I thought, ‘Oh God, what if he chokes on it,'” Green explained.
Firefighters To The Rescue
At that time, firefighters made the decision to smash open the back window and handily pull Brandon to safety.
The rescue mission for the adorable toddler soon went viral, and people on Facebook chimed in to let Green know that she most likely has a lifetime of hijinks ahead of her with Brandon:
“I am so thankful he is OK, but you have your hands full with him. You might wanna keep a journal of the funny things he does,” read one comment.
“So cute, looks like this wee one is having the time of his life. Thank God that these wonderful first responders came to his mischievous aid,” said another.
Her post on the Bude Community Fire Station page has more than 2,000 reactions, more than 500 shares and nearly 150 comments. Looks like Brandon—and the guys who saved him—have some big fans!
We’re so glad little Brandon made it out OK, and we hope his mom has been able to relax after that harrowing experience!
How This Man Gets His Toddler Out The Door In 15 Minutes
Speaking of how crazy raising a toddler can be, one dad is breaking the mold (and probably some records) by consistently getting his toddler out the door each morning in just 15 minutes.
Getting a toddler prepped and ready to go off to pre-school or daycare each morning can be easier said than done. And running through a similar routine at nighttime? Well, you know how that goes.
But one clever dad came up with a time management trick that will have your kids ready in just 15 minutes each morning. That’s how well it’s working for his little one, at least.
Matt Girvan was struggling to get out of the door in the morning because it was taking about an hour and 15 minutes to get his child ready every day. Between the tiredness, tantrums and general lack of wanting to go to school, getting the little guy ready for the day was tough to say the least.
Girvan is a developer of time management apps, so he decided to apply classic time management techniques to his family’s morning routine. Indeed, he discovered that a time management technique that works for adults could also help his toddler stay on track.
Using the concepts of visual management (pictures that depict which action you should be performing), daily management (a day-to-day explanation of what needs to get done) and standard work (a timeframe explaining how long each action should take), Girvan created a chart for his son to follow while getting ready for the day.
He points out that he had his son help to create the chart. That gave the little boy ownership of the process, and made him more likely to use it.
No, Girvan didn’t explain every detail of why these time-management tactics work, but he did let him help pick out the images, cut them out and attach them with magnets to the chart.
Now, every morning his son wakes up and runs through the chart, checking off each action as he goes along. And apparently, he loves doing it.
“The act of checking something done for him seems to be as important as it is for an adult, he really gets a good feeling from it,” Girvan wrote on Medium.
Not only is this routine establishing good habits now, it’s teaching the little boy how to stay organized in the future. It’s a good example of coaching rather than coddling.
“It’s important for parents to become exceedingly self-aware of their words and actions when interacting with their children, or with others when their children are nearby,” Dr. Tim Elmore told Forbes. “Care enough to train them, not merely treat them to a good life. Coach them, more than coddle.”
By letting his son get himself ready every morning, he’s giving him his own task to be responsible for and setting him up for success. This dad’s not doing things for him, instead he’s teaching him how to do things on his own. And his son seems to be enjoying it.
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We’d say that’s a parenting win!