Trapped!

On Sunday mornings Brad has meeting that start at 6:30 a.m., so we're always on our own getting ready for 9:00 church. We were making great time. I was ready and the boys had already eaten breakfast by 8:25. I just had to get them dressed and make sure we had the diaper bag packed. As we walked into Parker's room to get him dressed, he laughed and said he'd locked us in.

We have the door knob reversed so that we can lock him in his room. We rarely ever use it, but the threat helps him stay in his room at night. We have a key on top of the door frame- or we usualy do. Somehow it wasn't there. My phone was in the other room, so I wouldn't be able to call anyone to rescue us. Our front door was still locked anyway, so someone couldn't come in from the outside.

When he said that we were locked in, a flash of panic crossed my mind. I explained that we might be locked in here for a while and he burst into tears and moaned that we might be trapped in there "forever". I assured him that it wouldn't be forever, but that we should definitely say a prayer so that Heavenly Father could help us get out. Parker said a very nice pleading prayer and then we got to work doing what we could. I opened the (second story) window and asked Parker to yell for help and keep his eye out for anyone. Meanwhile I checked the vent and closet for the lost key and then tried various nails and such to try to unlock the door. I tried to remove the hinges and anything else I could think of to escape. Jason was unconcerned, of course, and spent the time playing with toys.

Finally, our neighbors came outside and we asked them to try calling Brad's phone. He didn't answer, but since church was already starting, it wasn't surprising. Then I removed the screen and they proceeded to toss us various things to try to open the lock. Luckily, something worked and we were finally free!

It is really such a comical thing to be trapped inside my sons' bedroom, but, silly or not, we really were helpless to get out and needed rescue. We got to church almost 40 minutes late after being trapped almost an hour.

Some good, however, did come of our experience. #1. Parker and I were reminded that God does answer prayers. Parker even told me, "I know that God answers prayers. He told our neighbor to go outside so she could help us." #2. We also got to meet some of neighbors that we don't know well. (We delivered them treats and a thank you note later that day.) #3. I got the chance to really ponder upon whether or not to keep the reversed lock (I'm still thinking, by the way, but I did tape a spare key onto the door frame in the meantime.) #4. Hopefully, some one out there will get a good laugh out of our experience.

On a separate note, later that same day, Parker lost his glasses and we still haven't found them. Never before has he misplaced them, which is pretty good since he's had them almost two years. Still, they're an expensive thing to lose. Coincidentally we had ordered some new ones, but they won't be in for a few more days. We're praying for that too!