Traveling Circus, Jetta style, Part One

    I dreaded the drive home immensely. I never had any desire to get back into a car with three kids and a dog and drive for two days. Unfortunately, I really didn't have much of a choice. As it turned out, it was my least favorite trip of all time. It's hysterically funny now in retrospect. At the time, I thought I would go insane. We set out from PA in a VW Jetta. Packing had to be light and strategic. We left AR with a tiny bit more than I had originally considered (like three Arkansas watermelons that are gigantic). The set up in the Jetta goes something like this (at least how it should work in my mind and foiled a few times by children and said dog): Evelynn sits in the front passenger seat, Caelan sits directly behind me, McKenna sits behind Evelynn. The middle seat in the Jetta flips down for access to the trunk. The dog stays in the front until he gets fed up sitting between Caelan and McKenna and goes back to the trunk. With this arrangement, I don't have full use of trunk space. As it happened, both the back floorboards were full up to the seat, and about 2/3 of the trunk was full.
    This is a great way to go even if it's cramped. So how in the world did I lose a child??? How does anyone lose a child in a Jetta that's packed to its gills? Well, it did happen. We had stopped to eat and take a bathroom break at Sonic (of course... and it's easy access/convenient location to a bathroom without unloading everyone at once). After that we got back on the road and Keith called me. After about ten minutes of conversation, I looked in my rearview mirror and did not see Caelan. I thought maybe she had fallen asleep and was leaning toward the door. I looked closer. There was NO child sitting in the carseat. My heart stopped. I'd finally done it. I'd forgotten one of my children. Did I leave her in the bathroom? Did I really leave her at Sonic? But I distinctly remembered buckling her in. Evelynn looked and didn't see her either. I called Caelan's name several times. No answer. I was feeling ill. I took the next exit, calling her name one more time. I heard a muffled response. "I'm back here." WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THE TRUNK!!!! "I just wanted to pet the dog." Oh, dear Lord, I'm so glad I didn't leave her at Sonic and I'm relieved. Then strangely I got quite a bit upset. At that moment it was nowhere near funny. Now it's just another fantastic, hilarious example of what it means to be a parent to Caelan.