Thursday, December 11, 2008

Locked Out of the House

So here's the story of getting locked out of the house.

I had found a new recipe for pancakes (oatmeal pancakes) the night before. I was so excited about making them, I dumped all the ingredients in the food processor and when I got to the end of the recipe, I realized I was missing eggs - a very essential ingredient. So, I ran over to the neighbor's house (in my pajama pants), telling Bo to stay put and pulling the door behind me. They gave me my ONE essential egg and I went back to the house to finish my recipe, only to find the door locked! I have no phone, no keys and don't know anyone's number besides Robert's cell, which he doesn't keep on b/c he's at school!!!

Bo was inside calling my name. Since he was at the door, I tried to explain to him how to unlock the door (that has no windows - so I couldn't see him and he couldn't see me), to no avail. I normally keep my keys in the same place, so I told Bo to go get my keys. There used to be a pretty big gap underneath part of the door, so I figured he could get my keys and possibly slide them through the gap and I could unlock the door. So off he goes to find my keys. After a little bit, I hear him playing. I ask, "Did you find mommy's keys?" To which he answers, "No." And he no longer wants to come to the door.

What to do now??? First thought, break out a window in the front room. Or go to the neighbor's to see what they say about the situation. Second thought, Robert would not be happy with a broken window, especially in the front of the house, where someone could easily break in during the time we are waiting to get it fixed...and it costs money...very important factor. Third, jump the wooden fence (since we keep it deadbolted) into the back yard and break out a back window, where at least the broken window wouldn't be seen by potential burglars. Go to the fence, realize it is taller than I thought and there's no way I'm getting over it, especially being pregnant.

Fourth and finally, go to the other neighbors' house, who have four kids and ask for help. Praise the Lord for neighbors who are believers!!! They welcome me in, and ask how they can help, reassuring me it's no big deal, that they've locked their kids in the car, left them at home, etc. We get in touch with Robert and the neighbor volunteers to drive to his school to pick up our house key.

Returning to the house, I hear Bo crying and the neighbor coaxes him to the front window and tells him to pull up the blinds, so at least he can see me. He does this, and I see the reason for his crying - not being able to get his pajama top off, which reassures me b/c it means he's not freaking out about being locked in the house by himself. We try to get him to unlock the window, but he's just holding the blind cord, staring out at us.

The key arrives and I am back in the house about an hour after I was locked out. I still have my precious egg, tucked away in the pocket of my sweatshirt. Boy, were those pancakes delicious. I spent the rest of the day recovering from this memory-making episode. It totally threw me off the rest of the day and I felt exhausted. But those pancakes sure were good. I'll just take my keys next time I go to borrow some eggs.

1 comment:

Jones Family said...

Abby did that to me the other while I took our newborn out to get the mail with me!! Thankfully (although most days I'm not too grateful) she does know how to unlock it.