A Close Call: A Mother's Honest Reflection

We came across a Facebook post that truly moved us. It was from a mom who nearly left her daughter in the car—in the sweltering heat. Thankfully, she remembered just in time. Here is what the mom, Noa Yalon-Louis, had to say:

“Almost. I almost left my daughter in the car today. We came so close to a tragedy, and I nearly lost my Naomi on what was supposed to be a joyous day—her 11-month and one-week birthday. All it takes is one stupid moment. I left my daughter in the car today, on this blazing hot day. To those who comfort themselves with the checklist mentality, thinking it can't happen to them—I'm not your typical forgetful dad rushing to the office. I'm not a workaholic ignoring my kids. I wasn't on WhatsApp, or talking on the phone, or even messing with the radio.

“But today, I almost lost my daughter!!!

“Who cares about this hollow catalog of reasons? It was just us in the car, and I was focused on driving to pick up my kids. My bag and phone were in the car as usual, so the tip to leave them by the baby seat wouldn’t have helped. Yet another stereotype debunked. I forgot my daughter in the car.

“I never declared that it could never happen to me. Honestly, I always believed it could happen to anyone under specific circumstances. Each potential tragedy comes with its very particular conditions. In this case, there was a series of events that could have ended catastrophically—and this is what I want to talk about. It’s the common thread, unfortunately, because That’s all it takes,Just this once.

I left about ten minutes late to pick up the kids from school and daycare. That’s rare. Naomi usually rides next to me because she hates car rides. That way, we can connect—I’ll stroke her, hold her hand, or just sing to her. But today, the car seat was in the back because we went on a family trip yesterday and I hadn’t had time to move it back. I didn’t want to be late.

“Today, Naomi was quiet and fell asleep on this short ride. I figured since I was already late and she was asleep, I could park close to the gate, ask Yuval to come brings Abigail and Maayan, and we wouldn’t even have to get out of the car—Naomi could nap with the A/C on.”

But when she arrived at the school, a big traffic jam greeted her, vanishing her plans. “I couldn’t stop at the gate as I had pictured. They couldn’t even see that I’d arrived, with so many cars blocking the view. I thought, ‘Here’s a vacant parking spot.’ I’ll park and have someone call the kids. I’ve done it before when Naomi fell asleep, or years ago with Abigail... And then, suddenly, without an explanation or a moment to reflect on, I just got out and left her inside. For ten seconds. But ten seconds that could have stretched into twenty minutes, and she could have died in the inferno.

“Ten seconds were enough to take two steps away from the car and think to myself: ‘What a terrible heat. No one should be out in this weather. I need to get back to the A/C and drink plenty.’ Meanwhile, my daughter was in that terrible heat, locked in the car!!! And as I was thinking about the heat, Hashem sent me an angel named Harel Zisovich, who sweetly asked me—Where is Naomi? Instead of an answer, he got a mad dash towards the car from me.”

Fortunately, the car hadn’t heated up to a dangerous level threatening the sweet sleeping baby. But it’s precisely this, the wise mom chose to speak about: “This wouldn’t happen on any other day. She’s always by my side, impossible to forget, everything is perfect—until... one day, someone moves the cheese. And things aren’t exactly like every other day. It’s all disruptive. And here one must be cautious, that’s precisely the ground where you aren’t careful because it’s exceptional. Normally, it isn’t like this.

“Once, I received Naomi as a gift when she was born. And today again, I received her as a gift, for the second time—because nothing happened. But I could have been mourning now, instead of talking here. And you reading this could have been on your way to console us. I almost lost my daughter today because I forgot her in the car.

“I take this wake-up call and gift as an opportunity to wake up and shake anyone who mistakenly thinks it can’t happen to them because it only happens to some people a million miles away from the parent they are. If you can learn from my experience and avoid unnecessary catastrophes—we are lucky. But find that one thing that will stop that very unusual exception in your life from leading to an unimaginable disaster.”