Locked In!

Recently a friend commented that if you have more than one child you are not just a mother, you are a referee. I chuckled because it's so true!

My kiddos spend a lot of time arguing. Of course, they are also the best of friends. This afternoon, they were were playing so well together that I didn't have the heart to stop them to take naps. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right?

That is how I found myself in my son's room with my three children. I sat in the rocking chair reading Curious George for the first time to my two-year-old. My other children played on the floor. (I must say it was rather quaint to sit there reading to my youngest with my other two playing at my feet. That, however, was about to change.)

Suddenly, my son turned off the light and shut the door. He wanted to show us a light on his Rescue Hero tower. We all pretended to be impressed. (Who knows, maybe the girls were really impressed.)

Finally, my daughter turned the light back on, and as she did something also clicked in my mind and I gasped. I asked my oldest daughter to open the door. Just as I expected, she couldn't because it was locked, from the outside.

The previous owners had the door handle reversed. It's something we never fixed and I regretted that this afternoon.

Anyways, I did my best to play the part of the cool and collected mom, even though in my head I was having fears of the house burning down while we were trapped in the room.

A quick glance at my watch told me that it would be an hour and a half until the neighbor kids walked by on their way home from school. My plan was to yell out the window at them to get their mom so she could help us.

I explained my plan to the older two kids while my two-year-old pulled and the door handle and said, "Unlock, unlock, unlock!" (They sure can be relentless!)

My son wasn't the least bit concerned. He thought it seemed like a perfect excuse for a great big nap time slumber party. My daughter, on the other hand, was going on and on about not having her stuffed animals and what not.

I spent the next few minutes picking up the room so I could make room for the girls to sleep on the floor. As I did that, I also anxiously glanced out of the window to see if my neighbor might get home early. Since it was so cold, I knew the chances were slim of anyone happening to walk by our house.

One of those times I glanced out the window and noticed the mail truck. You can probably guess the rest of the story. I yelled down to the woman who delivers our mail and asked her to get my neighbor. She was kind enough not to laugh at me and instead went to grab my neighbor who came over to save the day.

Today, I learned never to have everyone in the house gathered in my son's room without a cell phone, or you know a key, handy.

I also learned that if I did have to be stuck in a tight space for quite a while, other than my husband, there isn't anyone I'd rather be with than my kiddos. Crazy, but true!

Be sure to head over to Musings of a Housewife to see what other bloggers learned this week. Hopefully no one else got locked in! Snowed in maybe...