So, this is what parenting is all about, eh?

This is the post I promised. The first part is what I wrote when it happened, but I stopped part way through, and now I'm finishing it!


I never really understood how people could "hide" their house keys under mats, or in flower pots or other places outside their home. It never really seemed all that "safe" to me.

I understand now. Those people all have or have had kids.

I'm writing this now to help calm myself down. I won't be posting it until after everything is all fixed and worked out.

I needed wood for the woodstove, so I left Cherry and the dogs inside while I walked to the woodshed in the back yard. It's not like I went far, or I was gone for very long, but it was long enough for Cherry to engage the lock on the bottom of the sliding glass door. Her new trick: pushing buttons.

So, there I stood on the outside of the glass door trying to tell her to press the other button to unlock the door and there SHE stood on the inside having no idea what her crazy mother was trying to tell her to do. Then I burst into tears. Then SHE burst into tears. Then I quickly racked my brain as to what to do next. I looked over at my neighbour's house, and both cars were in the driveway, so I ran over there and tried their doorbell, which apparently doesn't work, and their screen door was locked, so I couldn't knock on the door, so I started to run away in a panic, then their dogs starting barking, which alerted the neighbour, who I could see stand up in his living room, and so I started waving wildly...

And that's as far as I got... The rest of the story..

My neighbour noticed me, and came out to see what was wrong. I was bawling as I told him I needed help breaking into the house to get to my kid. He quickly grabbed some tools and met me in my yard. At first he tried to lift the sliding door to get it open, but that didn't work. Then I got him to climb on our oil tank to try to see if he could get into the only window that I hadn't put a stick into, and that didn't work. (The regular window lock was engaged).

Inside, Cherry was shaking and crying uncontrollably, and outside, I was doing the same. I finally figured out that I was going to have to break a window to get inside, so I took the neighbour around to a kitchen window, where he broke one of the small panes and turned the handle to open the window for me. Luckily, the blinds were closed, so the glass just fell down onto the sill and not all over the floor where Cherry was standing.

I hopped into the house, thanking the neighbour, who replied "I guess I can break a window as well as the next guy!" and I ran to Cherry who, at this point was in complete hysterics. (I figure she wouldn't have even realized anything was wrong if her crazy mother wasn't in hysterics herself!)

I spent the next few minutes holding her and trying to calm down, then I gave her a bottle and set her in front of the TV where she happily sat while I tried to figure out what to do next.

I looked at the clock, and noticed it was almost 5pm, so I started making some phone calls. I wasn't by any means calm by this point, but figured I should call and make an appointment with the glass shop before it closed. So, I called the closest place, and in between sobs and sputters, I told the guy I needed my window replaced, who told me that I would have to call back the next day to make an appointment. I said "Can't I make an appointment TODAY for tomorrow?" To which, the insensitive jerk said "Nope."

So, then I called my house insurance broker to see if the window was covered by insurance. (I couldn't, for the life of me remember if we paid for the extra window insurance or not.) The woman on the line was gentle with me, and calmly listened as I tried to explain my situation between sobs.

Then, I spent the next three full hours crying. I was so upset. Part of it was most definitely pregnancy hormones. Part of it was just feeling so incredibly scared that I had put my child in a pretty dangerous situation. Part of it was that I felt really, incredibly alone, due to the fact that Armondo wasn't home. Part of it was that I had a broken window, in an easily accessible place that was just asking for an intruder to break into.(Unlikely, given where we live, but I wasn't really thinking rationally.) Part of it was that I had to figure out how to cover that window as the weather was incredibly bad. And, to top it all off, I couldn't get ahold of Armondo on the boat, and I just really wanted to talk to him!

In the end, I covered the window with some plastic bags, and I still happened to have an old fridge on the deck at that time, so all eight months preggo of me moved that fridge in front of the window (on the outside) to partially help block the wind, and partially act as a security measure. (I know that if *I* could move the fridge, that so could a robber, but I figured I would at least HEAR an intruder move it, and I'd have enough time to dial 911.)

I didn't sleep well that night at all.

The next day, I got a different glass company come to fix the glass, and the small little piece of glass cost a whole of $8, whereas all the other fees, such as "truck fees", "labour", etc, made the total pretty darn close to $100. (Yikes!)

So now, I have a spare key hidden outside, as well as I ALWAYS take my keys with me when ever I leave the house! But now, all is good, 'cause Armondo is home, and I make HIM get the wood for the wood stove!