Saturday, November 1, 2008

A Close Call

I had one of those panicky moments that every parent dreads today. You know, those ones where you think you've lost a child in the store or something similar. Let me give a little background.
We have some house guests for a couple of weeks; some friends (a 4 person family) who needed a place to stay between when their lease was up on their rental home and the closing date on their new home. They've been staying with us since Tuesday and are scheduled to close on their home on Nov. 10. Anyways, we made sure to give them house keys, one of which Grant said was a spare one we keep in the garage.
Back to the story. It was about 11:30 am, the other family was away, Grant had left about 30 minutes earlier to go to a gun show in VA Beach with a friend, and I was home with the kids. Corban and Marissa were playing out back while I was doing a little housework with Annika playing in the living room.
I heard Corban and Marissa yelling loudly at Monty (which they do if he's trying to go potty in the wrong spot in the yard), so I went out there to see what was going on. I made sure to close the door behind me, so Annika wouldn't crawl out.
When I turned to go back in, the door knob was locked. Obviously, I hadn't locked it. Someone had probably inadvertently turned the button to the locked position, which only prevents you from coming into the house, not out.
Instantly, I freaked out. Annika was in there all alone, blissfully unaware at the moment, but who knew how long that would last. I had a sinking feeling that all of the other doors were also locked. And it's not like I carry my house key around with me. I darted through the yard, around to the front door. Yep, it was locked. Okay. I opened the garage door with the keypad (praise God for those things!) and tried that interior door. Yep, also locked. I like the house to feel secure when I'm home alone.
At this point, I really began to panic, because I distinctly remembered Grant getting out that key we keep in the garage to give to our guests. My mind was racing a thousand miles a second. What could I do? I'd have to run to a neighbor, use their phone to call Grant on his cell, and wait for him to get home with the key, a process that would probably take about an hour. And poor little Annika!
I rummaged around on Grant's workbench, hoping and praying that somehow there was a key there. In just about 20 seconds, I found it. Hallelujah! I don't know why it was there, why Grant had put it back, or what, but it was there, just when I needed it.

I really hate those panicked moments. I never need to have another one.

On another note, we took the big kids for their annual check-ups today. Here are their stats:
Corban
Height: 48 inches (over 100th percentile) -Is anyone surprised?
Weight: 47.5 lbs (90th percentile)
Marissa
Height: 37.5 inches (55th percentile)
Weight: 32.5 lbs (75th percentile)

Both have great iron levels, Corban's vision and hearing came out perfect (they didn't test Marissa), they both are doing great in everything. Hurray!

6 comments:

  1. You could always wait for Grant to get there while watching Annika through the window. If there was an emergency and you needed to get in earlier, it's not hard to break into a house. You just don't want to break a window if you don't have to, but that's what you're worried about. No need to get panicked about replacing some glass. You can always get to your kid if you need to. :-)

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  2. Joseph is right -- just break a window (but keep in mind that it's not like in the movies, where people leap through glass windows and are uncut).

    Also, there's no such thing as over 100th percentile. :)

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  3. Yeah, it's best to find a rock or something to break the window, I'd think. Also, don't break the one that Annika is sitting right under. :-)

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  4. Thankfully, it didn't come to breaking a window. I could just imagine Annika crawling over to see what the noise was and getting all cut up before I could get to her.

    And Jeremy, let's just say that Corban is taller than any other kid his age in the world. How does that sound? :)
    Okay, I know that's not true. My friend's son is only 3 weeks older than him and taller by 2 inches. He's a BIG boy.

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  5. According to this website, Corban is as tall as the average 7-year-old: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhanes/growthcharts/set1clinical/cj41l021.pdf.

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  6. Joseph, that doesn't surprise me. His best buddy is 8.5 and barely taller than him. Most people think he's at least 6 or 7. Big kid! He may end up tall like our Dad!

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