Gaetano's Trunk Story

Gaetano loves to tell people all about the things he's done. He's a talker; yes I know, he's like his mama. His latest favorite thing to tell people is his trunk story.

Last week he took an entrance exam for Kindergarten. When he was done, he wanted to tell the teacher something. As soon as he started telling her what he wanted to say, I knew what it was and couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Gaetano told the teacher that Dan put him in the trunk. Her facial expression was what you'd expect it to be when she first heard Gaetano tell her that we'd put him in the trunk.

Now before you go freaking out, it is important to know that he was not traumatized in any way; he went into the trunk willingly, was not scared, and likes telling people the story.

The problem is, sometimes he forgets to say why he was put in the trunk, which is the most important part. Once we told the teacher why, it was no big deal.

Dan bought a new Jetta a little over a month ago, which has a glow-in-the-dark safety release handle inside. I wanted Gaetano to know how to get out of the trunk if any bad guys ever tried to put him inside.

Before putting him in the trunk, Dan put the back seat down so that Gaetano could get out that way if he wanted. I explained to him that he could go out through he back seat if he gets scared, showed him where the handle was, and put him inside. He pushed on the handle a few seconds after we closed the trunk and the trunk popped right open. (The Jetta is great; the trunk opens all the way by itself.)

Gaetano was proud of himself and not scared whatsoever. He told my parents about the trunk the next time we visited and we showed them how he knows how to get out, this time without the back seat down. He wasn't scared at all. I'm so proud of him.

He knows that sometimes bad guys take kids and put them in the trunk, so he knows that he shouldn't be scared because most new cars have a handle. He also knows that if there isn't a handle he needs to make a lot of noise if the car isn't moving.

I feel better knowing that he knows what he should do and I'm glad to see that car manufacturers are taking steps to make trunks safer. Such is the world we live in that these things are important. If you have a young child and a car with a trunk escape mechanism, please be sure to teach your child how to use it.

Posted by ~Angela | Comments (0) | Add Comment | Permalink