Locked Out!

Looking in/looking out

There are days and times when a person writes to inspire, uplift, and encourage. Then there are days when a person would rather vent, let out some stress, and try to “make sense of it all.” Well, today my intention in writing is to vent, let out some stress, and entertain my readers in the process!
As we all know, young children are fun, entertaining, interesting, complex little beings, and not to be trusted in the house unattended. That being said, let me elaborate on my morning a bit…
I woke up to my alarm sounding off beside my head (the original Super Mario Brothers theme song). It was time to get the kids ready to meet the bus for school. Sean walked into the bedroom, dressed in his gym clothes, a gray tank top and black jogging pants. He had just come home from working his shift all night, then stopping at the gym after he got off from work. After he made sure I was awake, he went to help the kids finish getting ready for school.
I rolled out of bed, a bit reluctantly today, and made my way down the hall to help the boys get their stuff together before making the trek up the street to the bus stop. All seemed to be well, and Sean and the kiddos headed off to the bus stop while I looked for some flip flops to walk up the street with them.
After getting the kids off to school, Sean and I were able to sit and chill for a bit before he finally winded down enough to fall asleep. No sooner than he fell asleep my phone rang. It was the school nurse. Levi was sick, and in her office waiting to be picked up.
Not meaning to rush through this part of my day (it’s a whole new blog post on its own), I got ready, went to get Levi, and came home.
When Levi and I arrived at home, I got Micah out of his bed and fixed them a breakfast snack before making a couple phone calls. While I was making the first of my phone calls, Levi tells me that he wants to do homework. After getting the ok from me, Levi proceeds to put his pencil box (equipped with all necessary items for class, including scissors and glue which later come into play), and his notebook out on the table and begins practicing his letters. I step out the front door for a moment of quiet so I can communicate with the person I was talking with on the phone.
Levi follows me outside after a few minutes, wanting to ride his scooter. I was off the phone at that time, so it was ok with me. After about five minutes of scooter riding, and Micah making noises at the door, frustrated that he was stuck on the other side, I decide it is time to go back indoors. I reached for the handle, and it wouldn’t turn. After a pause, I look down at Micah, and he looked up at me and smiled through his pacifier and said, “Out. Outside!” I said, “Umm…baby, you gotta unlock the door for me. Can you unlock the door?” He looks at the doorknob, then up at me, and then starts his baby babble. He did try, though, he tried to move the lock so that we could get in, or so he could get out rather.
I decided that, even though he’d only been a sleep for less than two hours, it was time to call Sean and wake him up so he could let me in. I call him. Then I remembered that his phone was on vibrate, because someone called him before I left this morning, and vibrating was all the sound it made. Not loud. Sean is a HEAVY sleeper. And, the TV in the bedroom was on. I was going to tell Micah to go to my room and get Daddy up, but I remembered that I had secured the bedroom door so Micah couldn’t disturb Sean for a few hours.
Sean is currently on a night schedule, and I make sure my house is secured all the way around every day and every night. When one of my friends text me and asked if I had other means by which I could get in my house, I tried every avenue I thought possible, and to no success. So…I resorted to banging on my bedroom window. Fail. Sean was not waking up.
Levi and I went through the gate in our fence, and made it to the back door. With a slight glimmer of hope in me, I walked to the door…to find it was locked as well. Ok…calling Sean again. No answer. My phone then beeps at me. 10% battery left. Really?! I would have taken it to my van to charge, but my keys were lying in the floor just on the other side of my sliding glass door beside the dining room table. These are the moments when you either laugh or cry…yep, I laughed.
Micah comes in from the front door. I got his attention and had him come to the back door. He didn’t understand how to unlock that door either. After trying to get him to unlock the door for Mommy, I realized “this is how young children figure this stuff out so early…we let them lock us out, and teach them to let us in!” Haha!
So…after losing interest in getting the back door unlocked, Micah proceeds to the dining table, where Levi’s homework supplies are still lying out, easily accessible to baby fingers. What does he pick up first? Yep, scissors! It took a few minutes for him to figure out how to get them out of their protective case, but figure it out, he did. All the while I was standing outside with Levi, banging and banging on my door, trying to get him to stop, which he was completely in his own world at this point, and Sean was still not waking up.
I called my brother. He had called while I was engaged in this battle at the back door, and I had let the call go to voice mail. When I called him back, he reminded me that Angel, my step-daughter, leaves her window unlocked, and it is the only window with no screen. It was used by the older three children to sneak in and out of the house (into the fenced in back yard…no fear) when we first moved into this house. I said, “No…we have made sure that window is locked.” His response was, “Trust me, sis! You know they’ve opened it since then, and she doesn’t lock it. Go check.” Sure enough! I pushed just right on that thing, and it gave! I called Levi over, and he climbed through the window and unlocked the back door for me to get in my house. WHEW!
From the moment I had walked out of my house, until I was able to walk back in, was over an hour! It may have been stressful for those moments that Micah had the scissors in his hands, and I was helpless to do anything about it, but it was HILARIOUS his expressions, our interaction with the doors between us, and just being from my perspective outside, and him inside…words really cannot describe the humor I found in those moments.
Let this be a lesson…from this point forward, when I must walk out my door, to take my keys outside with me! Hahaha! Count it all Joy!