That time I had a huge momma fail

A typical evening, we got back from our evening walk to the park and I remembered it was the night before garbage pick up. I ran around the house grabbing all the garbage bags and ran past the sleepy Audrey, who was just starting to fuss. Running outside, I passed Josie and literally ran out the door. 

I came back to the garage door to find that it was locked. Just the deadbolt, not the handle, but I couldn't get inside. I am not sure if Josie did it or if it jiggled just enough to be locked. With no spare key, I didn't panic as I listened to Audrey scream (of course by this point she was past the point of just fussing but I had assumed I'd be in and out in under a minute) and ran through my options. We have three other entrances to the house, but all were locked. Not just the deadbolts, but the door handles too.

In my effort to keep us safe, I had effectively locked myself out of the house. My paranoia about doors always being locked all day long was now biting me you know where. 

I tried to coax Josie into unlocking the door, but the knocking (pounding, I was now starting to panic) and my voice on the other side of the door scared her. She couldn't see me, and she knew something was wrong. 

I tried to locate which door she was at (she was wondering around confused from door to door as I yelled "go to the garage door!") by looking in the windows, but of course I'm also paranoid about people watching us from outside, so the blinds were almost shut. 

At this point, as I listened to both of my babies (I'm tearing up just remembering this) screaming on the other side, I knew I needed help. I ran over to our neighbor's house (who I have not yet met) and calmly asked if they had a spare key. The teenage girl said, "what?" and my calm immediately turned to terror. My girls were stuck in the house and we just moved in and do you have a spare key? No? Okay, off I ran back to the house to try to coax Josie into turning the lock (just the deadbolt, not the handle). 

Neighbor girl got her mom and they came running over to see if they could help. I continued trying to get Josie to the one door that only had one of the two locks locked, and the neighbor girl kept me updated where she was in the house by looking through the one window that wasn't closed off by shades.

Her mom had called the police who apparently don't charge to break in the house for you. I kept sweet talking my crying two year old, and just like that, the girl had turned the lock and I was inside with her in my arms, running to Audrey who was just down the hall. I vaguely heard the neighbor mom tell the police that I had gotten in, but all I could think about or do was hug my girls and thank God that I could be there to comfort them, smell their sweet smell, and feel them in my arms. 

It wasn't a big deal, because it ended on a happy note, but at the time, my momma heart was exploding with fear. I was picturing myself breaking windows, ripping screens, doing whatever I had to to get to my girls. Total, it was probably about 15 minutes, but those were the longest minutes of my life.

So that was my evening. I got to meet the neighbors. I got to cuddle my girls and tell Josie how proud I was of her for being brave even when she was scared. I told her she was my helper and that I loved her so so much. And then I sat in the chair after they were in bed and just thanked the Lord for his greatness and All Mighty protection. 

I'd rather not have another day like this one, though.




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