Today is garbage day-so I let Josie watch Curious George while i took out the garbage and recycling. Roxie (the cat) was hovering near the garage door looking like she was going to make a break for it-so I was yelling at her to back away. My cats have never been outside and since the garage door was open I didn't want to let her in the garage through the inner door.
Josie came running when she heard the commotion so I told her to stand guard and not let the kitty into the garage. I closed the door-but didn't shut it completely while I took the bag of recycling out. Josie whipped open the door to see what I was doing and I saw the cat coming up behind her. So-I yelled at her to shut the door. She stood there staring at me-so I went over and shut it completely and said I'd be right back.
I guess she didn't appreciate that. She kept calling to open the door and I talked to her (loudly) during the 20 seconds it took me to separate the glass from the paper/plastic. When I went back to the door-she had locked it. It's one on those doors with the little knob in the doorknob that you turn to lock and unlock.
I tried not to panic. I was totally locked out of the house. The front door was locked. The sliding glass doors were shut and had those security bars pulled down. Not to mention the gate to the backyard was shut (and effectively locked from the outside) so I coudn't even get to the sliding glass doors.
I kept talking to her-trying to get her to unlock the the door or just plain open the door. But she can't turn the front door or garage door doorknobs yet. I spend about 5 mintues pleading with her to unlock the door. Then I had to rethink the situation.
I figured she could probably lift the security bar (though I've yelled at her many a time to NOT do that) and I was sure I hadn't actually locked the sliding door, figuring the bar pretty much does the trick. The only problem was getting through the back yard gate.
I grabbed an empty kitty litter bucket thinking that if I stepped on it, I'd be able to reach over the gate and open it from the inside. I yell to Josie that I'm going to the back door (she's totally quiet by now) and traipse through the wet grass and mud. I stepped on the bucket and reached over the gate but I was still about 6 inches away from the latch. So I tried to climb over. (Shut up! Stop laughing!) Uh, that didn't work.
So I ran back around to the front and tried again to get Josie to unlock the door. Silence. I pound on the door and yell her name. Nothing. I'm starting to really freak out now. I was picturing her inside crying.
Knowing the patio door is really the best bet I found a long handled rolling paint brush and figure maybe with that I could open the gate. Bingo! I climbed on the bucket and used the plastic brush cover thingie to spring the latch. Yay me!
I run up to the door and what do I see?
Josie. Sans pants and socks. Sitting on the couch with the remote in one hand and her juice cup in the other watching Sid the Science Kid. Completely oblivious to me pounding on the glass door.
I FINALLY get her attention and get her to come over to the door (she kept turning her head to watch her show) and convince her to push the security bar up. I open the door and get in the house and immediately burst into tears. She's all "What's the matter Mama?" So I told her she scared me.
"Sorry Mama. Sorry!" And went back to watching her show.
This independent thing is good right? Nevertheless-I'm hiding a key outside somewhere. It's 9am and my heart is still racing. Is it too early to start drinking?
While I try to chill-here's a couple pics of the little darling from last weekend.
4 comments:
oh man that stinks! I would have freaked out. Good skills, I'm impressed you can break in to your own house. :)
Wow -- you're like McGyver, so resourceful. That's a great story when it's over, while you are living through it, it sucks. Hope you had a good drink and got some rest to recover from it. Shali
If you could see me all the way over here in TN you would probably smack me because I was laughing at your 'climbing on the bucket' and 'Josie all relaxed on the couch comments'! WHAT A TRIP! I know my day is going to come with the same event. I just hope I can be as Shali says, as McGyver-ish as you!
I was laughing at your story because the same thing happened with my daughter when my mom was watching her. She was 18 mths old and everytime my daghter came around the corner within view my mom noticed she and the dog were whiter and whiter. Emogene had gotten the box of corn starch and was powdering the dog,couch,floor, and herself while my mom had to go next door to call my sister to bring her a key. Emogene was alone with the dog for at least 30 minutes while my mom stood at the door calling her, talking to her, and dying laughing everytime she came back with more powder on her.
I still giggle when I think about it. My mom took pictures of her after she was able to get back in the house. Emogene was fine and so was the dog.
http://thejoysofmommy.blogspot.com
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