A Scary Mommy Moment

Today, when I put Audrey down for a nap I found the keys in the door of her room. I grabbed them and set them on her dresser. I remember thinking, "what if I lock these in here?" But it seemed such a strange thought because I figured I'd take them with me when I left the room. I use the keys to lock the door usually so I wasn't too worried.

I rocked Audrey to sleep and she crashed in my arms. It was such a sweet moment and I stayed longer trying to savor it. Aaron wanted my attention though so I laid Audrey down and rushed out the door to keep him from waking her. I locked the door using the knob to make it faster (we lock the door to keep Aaron out while she's sleeping) and went to go spend time with him.

It wasn't until Audrey woke a few hours later that I remembered I left the keys on the dresser. I desperately searched for a way inside - but the hinges were on the other side of the door ... the screws for the door know were on the other side of the door ... and the window is always locked.

In a panic, I called Eric and begged him to tell me what to do. He walked me through the options I had already thought of and then said he would come home. I raced to the neighbor to see if they had a smaller flat head screw driver than we had so I could use it and a hammer to try and jimmy the lock (I have done this with lock boxes before). My neighbor could tell that I was more than a little flustered and came over with me to try and help me. The screwdriver didn't work and so we got her ladder to make sure the window was truly locked. Eric made me promise to *not* try and force the window until he and his friend, Tyler, arrived in case I fell from the ladder. The window was definitely locked. Eric assured me he would kick in the door if needed so I calmed down a bit - but only a bit. Why do I have to make such expensive mistakes?!?

Aaron kept grabbing screw drivers and saying, "I can help mama!" He would try to put the screwdriver in the door knob and then try to open it and say, "I can't ... it's locked! You can do it mama!" This was super cute but also broke my heart because I should have been able to open the door!!!

I fluctuated in my panic level. If Audrey started screaming I was ready to break down the door ... If Audrey was calm  then I was able to relax a bit. She would have spurts of both. When Eric and Tyler arrived Audrey wasn't screaming so I was fairly calm. Tyler whipped out his lock picking kit (who has those?!?) and the two of them attempted to pick the lock. They almost had it at one point but one of the pieces slipped and they decided to try a different idea. The next plan was to kick in the door but Tyler's roommate is in construction and told him one of his tools could be used to break the doorknob and pull the knob out of the door. Tyler used the tool to try and break the knob but what ended up happening was the handle wrenched off and the lock mechanism fell out. Eric then used needle nose pliers and undid the lock.

I raced in and grabbed Audrey who was happily chewing on her toes. This experience was clearly more traumatic for me than her, thank goodness.

I took a few pictures because it is what I do to calm myself in situations (hence pictures of Aaron's crazy messes).

Here is my sweet neighbor, Marion, who helped keep Aaron calm.

This is our knob... Now we don't have to lock the door because Aaron can't open the door!