This Father’s Failures: Part One

As a dad, I constantly think to myself, “I really hope my kids are proud of me.” I want to make them laugh, make them feel safe and create a strong bond with each one of my children. But sometimes, I fail. And that’s why I am here to share with you, this father’s failures. It happens and it’s okay.

It all started as a normal day…

June 11th. It was a beautiful Sunday morning. My family headed to church and this time around, we were having church outside! During the summer months, we meet outside to enjoy the nice weather and my kids just love it. They get to play outside on the playground afterwards and use up all their energy. It’s a win-win scenario for us as parents. As our kids were running around, I decided to be a hero, walk across the parking lot and pick up our SUV. I moved our SUV closer to the playground and kept it running so the AC would kick on.

One tiny problem.

I locked the keys in the car.

“Umm…hey honey…”

So my SUV is now running in the parking lot, with my keys on the front seat in plain view. I’m honestly not sure how it happened, but it did. Panic set in. All our water bottles are in the car. My kids are running around sweaty and now they’re thirsty. Of course. I looked at my wife. “Umm…hey honey…the keys are in the car and it’s locked. What do I do?” I was hoping she would have some magic answer.

She didn’t. “Call AAA or something.” Okay. Think Derek, THINK. I don’t have AAA, but I guess i’ll be calling Roadside Assistance, through our insurance company. After many voice prompts, I put in a request for someone to help me out.

ETA: 45-75 minutes. There goes nap time!

Jeff Saves The Day!

That seemed like a long wait. Stuck on a playground. The church doors were closed. Thank goodness my kids are potty trained (except my two year old), because there were no bathrooms available.

But then I saw it. A tow truck headed down our street. My son shouted with joy. I felt happy, but also still embarrassed for letting this happen. Within minutes, Jeff the tow-truck guy had my door unlocked. As a side note, he is really good at unlocking car doors! I was impressed.

And so it was. Jeff saved the day. My kids couldn’t wait to tell everyone they knew about their dad’s mishap. But you know what? As much as I felt like I failed my family, my kids still laugh about it. As if it was funny and a bright spot in their day. And that’s just the best thing about parenting.

It’s all about perspective.