Did I Really Just Do That?

I had a whole post ready to write and share with you all yesterday but I never got around to it…but I have a legit excuse (and don’t you worry, the original post is a funny Mabel post and it’ll be up over the next few days).

So get ready to sit back and ask yourself, “Did she really just do that?“.  You’re either going to be able to relate, feel sorry for me, or think I’m incredibly stupid.  I guess all are acceptable.

At around 11:20am yesterday I got an email from my husband (he can’t have a cell phone in his current office) that he wouldn’t be coming home for lunch due to a meeting.  Ah, bummer…I really wanted some Zaxby’s (pregnancy craving).

11:30am – I took the dogs out back and Mabel wanted to go too.  She was still in just a pullup, I had seen no rush to get her ready and dressed when we had just been lounging around the house enjoying some Sesame Street.  After about 5 minutes we were all ready to get out of the 95 degree heat so we trudged back to the door and then I turned the knob…

And it wouldn’t turn.  It was locked.

Just some background info…the backdoor’s knob hasn’t been my friend since we moved in.  It actually turns when it’s locked so I apparently had thought it was unlocked when we had gone out when it was really locked.

First thoughtShit, the husband isn’t coming home for lunch which would have been only 25 mins from now.
Second thought: I’m going to cry…and so I did.  Pregnancy hormones.

I sat on our porch with tears running down my face…my husband wasn’t going to be home until 5:30…that was 6 whole hours away…in pretty close to 100 degree temps.  Mabel came over, plopped herself on the bench and asked “Mama, why you sad?” and then put her head in her hands exactly like how I was sitting.  Poor sweet baby…I had just gotten her locked out of the house with no food and I felt horrible.

I realized I needed to pull it together and starting thinking of what to do.  I searched the yard thinking the previous tenants might have left a spare key = no luck.

I wondered if a window had been left unlocked but quickly remembered the day we moved in, I had gone around and double checked to make sure all of them were locked.  Seriously, this was probably the only time I was pissed at myself for being so safe.  Then I debated breaking in…with my luck, I would do a ton of serious damage and still not be able to get in, not to mention a pregnant woman and a toddler crawling in through a broken window didn’t sound to safe.

Last idea…we know ONE neighbor.  But she happens to live the furthest you could live away in the neighborhood…and guess what, I had no shoes to wear.  The pavement was already burning my feet on our porch so I didn’t think I could make it a quarter of a mile barefoot on hot cement, while holding a toddler who was in nothing but a diaper and no sunscreen.  To top that off, they don’t even have a spare key since we haven’t been here long enough to give them one.

Yes, I guess I could have gone and beaten on doors but I looked like a crazy mess…I was in boxer shorts, a t shirt (with no bra I might add), no shoes…and I myself won’t open up my door to anyone other than the UPS guy.  So if some crazy looking woman I didn’t know came up to my door, I probably wouldn’t have let her in.  And since we have only been in our house for 3 weeks, I still didn’t know anyone.

So guess what…our 6 hours began.  A little part of me hoped that maybe my husband’s lunch meeting would be short and he’d come home anyway.

I could tell the time only by pressing my face up against the backdoor and looking at the stove’s clock…and each time I did so, I could see my cell phone 5 feet away, taunting me.  The one freaking time I didn’t take it outside with me!!!

I kept Mabel in the shade the best I could.  We played everything imaginable out in the yard and the hose was our saving grace.  We kept cool and it was there if she needed a sip of water.

1:30pm – time was going by sooooo slowly.  Mabel was still hanging in and thank goodness we had so much junk in the yard to keep her busy.

2:30pm – her pullup was huge due to playing in the hose so I took it off.  We were still covered in shade.

3:00pm – I was at the end of my rope here…I was tired, hot, hungry, thirsty and Mabel was starting to ask constantly to go inside.  This is when I seriously debated walking to my neighbor’s down the road but then realized it really wouldn’t look that good with me being barefoot, bra-less and holding a naked toddler.  UGH!

4:40pm – my sweet little naked toddler fell asleep in my arms in my lawn chair.  And I cried a little bit more. Nothing beats being pregnant and stuck in the heat and feeling like a crappy mom because not only was I having to suffer through it, Mabel was too.  I kept telling myself it could be worse like if it had been really cold or storming outside..but honestly I think it felt so bad because I was just extremely guilty of the fact that Mabel had to deal with all of this because of my stupidity.

During this whole day I did have the time to think some things over and was at least happy she wasn’t locked inside by herself…I would have broken the window to get to her if that had been the case.

5:27pm – my husband arrived home and let the dogs inside (the pugs were stuck outside with us too) but failed to see us in the corner of the yard.  So I frantically ran to the door afraid that he’d lock all of us out again.  And then I broke down when he saw me…because once again nothing is better than raging pregnancy hormones, being stuck in the heat for 6 hours with an innocent toddler, and making everything try to seem like a game to a toddler since she has no idea why crazy mommy won’t open the door to let her inside.

He felt horrible…but it wasn’t his fault that the one day he didn’t come home for lunch was the day that this happened.  We have a backup plan in place now so that this won’t happen again and I will always bring my cell phone outside no matter how short I think the trip will be!

And by the way, Mabel was good to go after some water and some spaghetti.  😉  She didn’t even seem phased by it and acted like nothing was even the matter whereas I was treating it all like the the end of the world.  I do want you all to know that if I thought any of us were in any real danger, I wouldn’t have hesitated to seek help.

So judge me if you will for being stupid, not banging on doors, and spending 6 hours outside in almost 100 degree temps. but it is what it is.  You only do stupid stuff like this once and it will NEVER happen again because there is no way I forget this.

Have you ever done anything like this…or locked yourself out of your house or car with your child?  I’m thinking I can’t be alone.

 

3 thoughts on “Did I Really Just Do That?

  1. Ashley says:

    I had a flat tire the other day and it was just me and my kids! It took me 30inutes just to get the tire and jack out! It was horrible! I cried so much, finally a family saved my life! My husband was in meetings alllllll day and couldn’t step out!

    And we recently moved to a new house…actually a new state so were renting too! I locked myself out of the house two days in a row. Thankfully we have a locked spare key were able to get with a password outside of the garage.

  2. Gabby says:

    Yesss, I have done this while babysitting my nephew. They have a screened in porch and I went out their back door to the porch and then closed the door behind me thinking nothing of it and then tried to go back in when my nephew started crying and not wanting to be outside anymore. I had no idea what to do but luckily I had brought my phone out with me and they had a spare key in a safe thing that locks outside and asked them the code for it.. That was the scariest thing ever though I could only imagine how you felt!

  3. Colleen says:

    I did the same thing while babysitting in high school, before there were so many cell phones. We had to spend the day outside, it was hot, I had no food, I felt like the worst person ever. Hugs.

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