Moms locked out

Twice. Twice in a month I was locked out of someplace that my kids were all by themselves. Twice in a month! Never before had this happened since I've had kids all of four years ago but now it happened twice in a month!

 

To be fair this happened when a lot was going on. We were packing up to move to the new house, we were remodeling, and I was the errand girl. And of course things cant ever go perfectly.

 

The first time I have ever been locked out of the car with the kids in it was at the gas station. I had gotten out of the car to get gas, locked the doors and left my door wide open. I didn't have pockets in my pants so I left the keys in the door. Of course a huge gust of wind came and slammed my door shut. Of course my phone was in the car along with my keys and my kids. Its one of the first days it was blazing hot outside and I picked that day to give in when Tyler fought with me to wear pants.

 

Don't panic. Don't panic. That was my first reaction. I tried to get the kids to open the doors for me but they couldn't unbuckle themselves to reach the handle. No my kids cant unbuckle their seatbelts. I'd say in most occasions this is more beneficial than not. I got a phone called Mike and he was on his way. But that was still a good fifteen minutes before he got there because he had to leave the new house drive to the old house for my spare keys and then rush to me at the gas station.

 

I stood there next to the car begging my kids to try and reach their little piggies out enough to pop open the door so mommy could open it. At first they thought it was a game and were laughing. Then I could see the heat getting to them and it wasn't funny anymore. Tyler, being the sensitive one he is started his panic attack. One of the people who were now crowded around me called the fire department. They were about as far away as Mike so it was really a race to see who could get there first.

 

It was basically a tie. The fire truck pulled up and a second later Mike was jumping out of his truck unlocking my car. I scrambled into the car and yanked both kids out. Tyler looked like he had jumped in a pool. They weren't even in the car for twenty minutes. The second the car door had slammed shut I was already trying to find a way in and then going inside the gas station to call Mike and he left the second I called.

 

So just that small amount of time locked in a hot car and my kid was in need of some serious water and a change of clothes. Both kids were fine but that's not the point. I tore myself apart for my negligence. How could I be so stupid? I asked myself. I should have known it would happen. Here I was locking my doors to try and prevent theft of my purse from the front seat and then setting myself up for disaster.

 

Now, the second time I was locked out of someplace was at least at home this time. I had been working in the backyard for a few days at that point. The kids were in and out of the house while I was power washing the front. Soon it was time for me to go to the back of the house. I didn't want to just leave the garage door open for anyone to walk in. And of course because of my two genius kids I had to bolt and chain lock the front door and garage door to keep them from getting out of the front and running into the street. That left me with one way in, the sliding back door.

 

Well you all know enough about Lily that she goes out of her way sometimes to make things difficult for me. That day was no different. I had just turned the power washer on on the back porch. Lil was standing at the window watching me and then suddenly I heard a very distinct click. Lil just locked me out of the house. Well of course being locked in the car was still fresh in their minds so after a few seconds of trying to coax them to open the door they were already calling it quits. Tyler ran to the couch and hid under the blanket to cry. Poor guy, he is not good with stress. Lil of course had to follow his lead so she walked back and forth whining. Again I had made the mistake of leaving my phone inside.

 

When I finally got to the neighbors to call mike he wasn't a happy camper when he had to come home from work early. But I did have to point out that at leas they weren't locked in a hot car. Needless to say that when I had to go outside a few days later to clean the windows I left quite a few unlocked and with their screens off just in case I was locked out again. It hasn't happened again yet and fingers crossed that it wont. I've been trying to make sure I am even more careful now.

 

It truly was the most awful feeling, being locked out of the house or car while my kids sat inside crying not understanding what was going on. I felt like the worst parent and it haunted me for a while. I know it was my fault but accidents do happen but when something like that happens its hard to just accept it. My kids were traumatized after the car incident for a while and every time I got out of the car they would tell me mommy don't forget your keys, don't lock us in the car. Yes, my two and four year old said that to me each time we got out of the car. For a while they even wanted Mike to drive whenever we went places because they were afraid I'd lock them all in the car. Yeah that was pretty awful. They seem to be more ok now but it still haunts me any chance I come close to forgetting my keys.

 

Hopefully I'm never locked out again. I mean I'm sure it will happen but I hope it doesn't...