Terror at the Top of the Play Area

One day this week, my husband and I took Jacob to a new doctor, only to be told when we got there that they weren't accepting our insurance anymore. I had to make the appointment about 2 months ago, and they apparently called me in August to tell me about the insurance, but they had a wrong number in my phone number, so I never got the message. Anyway...my husband went to work, and since it was almost noon, I took Jacob to Chick-fil-A for lunch. (I now have an appointment with another doctor in yet another month, close to when my baby's due. Hope this one works out.)

I had always heard the local Chick-fil-A had a nice play area, and they do. The workers were super nice, too.We finished eating, and he was eager to play. There weren't any other kids in the entire restaurant, so I thought it would be pretty cool that he had the place to himself.

So, Jacob got in and climbed almost to the top, seemingly fearless, as he usually does. I started to sit down, planning to make my grocery list. Then, I heard a cry and looked up to see Jacob with his face pressed against the clear, plastic wall, practically begging me to come rescue him. Soon, he was crying uncontrollably.

I tried to calm him down and point to his 2 exit options--either to climb down the way he came or go up one level and slide down the slide. I could feel my blood pressure raise and felt completely helpless as he looked at me and cried. I looked around and didn't even see ONE kid I could pay a couple bucks to climb up there and rescue him. And, I considered going up there myself a couple times, but it would have been a really tight squeeze for my almost 8-mths-pregnant body.

Finally, after about 20 minutes, I got him to go through the tunnel that was one level up and slide down the slide to safety. He came down the slide and I said a "Thank you, Lord" and breathed a heavy sigh of relief. He came over and put his shoes on and was ready to go. All the way home, and even two days later, he says, "That play area was scaaawy!" I don't know which one of us was more traumatized--him or his mommy.

Lesson learned: I'll never let him climb up in a new play area unless there are other kids around.