Well, it only took 6 weeks...

...before the inevitable happened. We left a kid (Elizabeth) at home after getting into the car to go somewhere. Now before you string us up with a rope (a fine Texas tradition which in my opinion is not employed nearly enough in cases that warrant it), I would like to plead my case by presenting several facts that have yet to be entered into evidence. Here goes:

1. Sarah was not with us. Now before you laugh and say "What does that have to do with it?", let me take you back to a previous post where I stated that Sarah consistently reminds me about Elizabeth when I am following the procedures of my official "how to load a car with four kids" guidebook. Therefore she was not there to offer her observance that someone was not in the car.
2. Jeff was with us. Not that I don't love my husband and wish he could be around 24/7, but because he is not a part of the everyday routine we have, there was some chaos as to who had which kid and who was in charge of what. Because of that, my system was thrown out of whack. So now I realize that in future cases, he should participate as a casual observer when it comes to getting ready to go. A fact I'm sure he'll love...
3. It was the one who could not walk or talk. So she was unable to come screaming out the garage door in tears, cursing us out or babbling about all the therapy she will need in her teen years. Plus, since she isn't talking yet, we weren't able to figure out that her "talk" was missing from the sing-song melodic voices that I am able to discern with little to no effort. Ok, ok, I'm blowing smoke on that one. It's all I can do to hear the radio over the chaos and shrieks that constantly have me screaming "Can you quiet it down back there? I can't hear myself think!!!"
4. We didn't even make it out of our subdivision before we noticed she wasn't in the car. Thankfully the second row ceiling air conditioning vent was blowing down Jeff's back, so he asked me to face it the other way or close it. It's what caused me to turn around in my seat and notice she wasn't there. I will add that I am going to throw our visitor who was riding with us that day (who shall remain nameless ;P) under the bus. They were sitting in the second row and should have noticed the seat next to them was empty...
   
   

I really don't have any more excuses...errr, I mean reasons, very valid reasons, to present. All I can plead is post pregnancy insanity. You have to admit that it probably proves the "man on man vs. zone defense" theory of child rearing. And now you can be sure we will never do that again. But out of all four kiddos, this was the best case scenario (is there such a thing in cases like this?!) seeing that upon returning to the house to get Elizabeth, she was sleeping soundly in her carseat in the middle of the living room completely oblivious to the events that had just transpired.

I guess we won't be clearing any wallspace for all the "Parent of the Year Awards" we were expecting to win before this...