Fire Safety

This month has been fire and safety month at preschool. Theo has been learning all about emergency personnel, ambulances, firemen and fire trucks, what to do in the event of a fire, and so on. Yesterday, his class visited the fire station, where all of the key points were reiterated. And apparently, Theo's been quite attentive to the lessons. I found that out this morning when we got to Sam's PT appointment a little early:

Me: Theo, we're here a little early. We'll sit in the car for 10 minutes and then go in. You can play Angry Birds on your phone. [The phone in question is an old, deactivated iPhone that he uses for games, music, etc.]
Theo: Okay, Mommy.

He played for a few minutes while I fed Sam and browsed the news on my phone. And then I heard this from the back seat:

Woman's voice: 9-1-1. What's your emergency?

It took a second to register, and I turned around to see Theo innocently holding the phone and looking at me wide-eyed.

Me (slightly panicky): Did you call 9-1-1, Theo?
Theo: Yes!
Me (whipping still-eating Sam off my chest and jumping out of the car): Don't hang up!!

But it was too late--he had already hung up on the operator. My mind was swirling with stories of people being fined for bogus 9-1-1 calls, but thankfully, it's been four hours and no one has shown up at my door, demanding to know why I prank-called 9-1-1.

Important lesson for Theo: Only dial 9-1-1 in an emergency.
Important lesson for me: Deactived iPhones still work for calling 9-1-1.

At least I know he was paying attention in school, right?