- Ashlee was thrilled when she had a little boy but as he got older, he became a bit of a handful
- Her son, Brooklyn was constantly running off and causing chaos, climbing things and jumping off them, earning himself the nickname Dennis the Menace
- When Ashlee met Troy and they entered a relationship, she went on a date night to meet Troy’s new friends for the first time
- They decided to go to a pub with a playground so Brooklyn and his big sister Harlee could play nearby
- When Brooklyn hadn’t been seen for a while, Ashlee went looking for him and was shocked to find him trapped inside a claw machine!
- Ashlee Larsen, from Melbourne, Vic, tells how her date night ended in a rescue mission to save her son…
The psychic sitting across from me looked down at my pregnant belly and smiled.
“You’re going to have a boy,” she said. “And he’s going to rock your world.”
I already had a little girl, Harlee, who was one.
Sure enough, I gave birth to a son we named Brooklyn.
As he grew older, he adopted another name: Dennis the Menace.
If I took my eye off him briefly, he was off, causing chaos, climbing things and jumping off them.
Read more: I stored Mum in a microwave… then I lost her!
Things didn’t work out with his dad, and in time, I met a new partner, Troy.
When our relationship became serious, he asked me to meet his friends.
We chose a pub with a playground so Brooklyn and Harlee could play.
“Behave yourself,” I told Brooklyn, three, and grabbed a seat where I could keep an eye on him.
When I hadn’t seen him go by for a few minutes, I decided to check on him.
I headed out to the playground but couldn’t spot Brooklyn anywhere.
“Brooklyn,” I called out.
Suddenly, I turned around and froze.
There was a claw machine filled with toys, and Brooklyn was trapped inside it, with a huge grin on his face!
I ran to get Troy.
“You need to come with me now,” I said urgently.
I pointed toward the machine, where Brooklyn was having the time of his life, tossing the toys around.
Troy burst out laughing.
“How did he get in there?” he asked incredulously.
“He must have climbed through the hole where the toys come out,” I said.
He would have been able to push through the plastic barrier, but getting him to lift it to climb back down would be challenging.
He had also thrown some toys down the chute for the other kids, blocking his exit.
As we tried to figure out a way to get him out, Troy’s friends came over.
Well, this is a great first impression, I thought.
People began to crowd around, and I wanted the ground to swallow me!
I went to find the manager.
“My son is trapped in your toy machine,” I said. “Can you please open it up and let him out?”
“We don’t have the keys,” she replied. “We’ll have to call the firies.”
As we waited, Brooklyn started to cry.
“I need to get to him,” I said, distressed.
Troy pushed his arm up the hole and tore the plastic barrier preventing Brooklyn from getting out.
When the hole was big enough, I tried to get Brooklyn to slide down it, but he was too upset.
Then I had an idea.
“Brooklyn, guess what? Nanny’s here,” I said.
His nanny, my mum, was his favourite person.
Upon hearing that, he stopped crying, jumped down the hole, and slid out to the sound of cheers.
“Sorry about that,” I muttered to Troy’s friends.
Luckily, they found it hilarious.
Later, we FaceTimed Nanny to tell her all about Brooklyn’s adventure getting trapped in the claw machine.
“What a menace,” she chuckled.
Never has there been a more accurate statement!
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