Today we got home from work/school and we were locked out of the house. The kid who mows my yard had come by my office and picked up my house key so he could give the yard one final cut for the season. When he left, he shut the garage door, then locked the door from the utility room to the garage. He exited the front door, and per my instruction, put the key through the mailbox (which drops into the living room). I didn't need the key. I could get in through the garage.
Er, I could until he locked the door in the utility room.
We get out of the car, arms full, go to open the door and it's locked. I can see the deadbolt from this side of the door. I called him, not really sure why. For a minute I thought he could come back and let me in, then I remembered he put the key through the mailbox.
Mimi is in Sapulpa with the only other key to the house. So I made a very difficult and scary decision. I put on a serious, you have a mission face, and turned to Harper.
Mommy: I need you to do something for Mommy. It's very very important.
H: Okay Mommy
M: I need you to crawl through the doggie door and unlock this door.
Then I demonstrate what I need him to do.
H: Okay Mommy. I can do it!
M: Don't go anywhere else. Just go to this door. Mommy will not be able to come in after you, so it's very important that you do what I say.
H: Okay Mommy.
Then, with all the anxiety you can imagine, I watched my baby crawl through the doggie door into the house. I ran to the garage to talk him through it. H knew exactly what he needed to do. I could feel the lock jiggling. He just couldn't turn it.
H: I can't get it Mommy.
M: It's okay, baby. Just come back through the doggie door.
H: I'm going to the front door!
M: (panic)
Harper runs to the front door. He's trying so hard to turn that lock and he just can't get it to turn. Bless his heart. He was so brave.
H: I can't get it Mommy. I'm coming out.
He runs to the doggie door and crawls out.
We went to the neighbor's house. They have a little boy who could fit through and unlock the door. He's about seven, so I'm fairly confident about it. Unfortunately, he's at football practice.
Fortunately, there are plenty of kids on the block now. Surely someone will be home. We went across and down the street a couple of houses to Noah's. Noah's mom answers the door. We've never met. I apologize for this and ask if I can borrow her son. Noah puts on his shoes and runs to the house. He's grown a lot over the Summer, so I'm a little concerned he won't fit through the door. He gets down on his knees, and inches his way in, unlocks the door and saves the day.
I'll be sending him a thank you. Maybe five bucks? I don't know what to do in this situation. I've never had this happen before. You can guarantee I'll be making a spare key this weekend and giving it to one of my neighbors.
I keep telling Harper how proud I am of him. It was a very important job and he was so brave to run through the house by himself. Believe me, it isn't far from my mind that something could have gone wrong. I'm just so so so so thankful it didn't. We were inside, safe and sound, within about 15 minutes of realizing we were locked out. Now I just hope word doesn't spread amongst the kids in the neighborhood that you can get into my house through the doggie door. Any suggestions on a deterrent? Keep in mind, my dog still needs to come and go during the day while I'm at work.
No comments:
Post a Comment