I hate to admit it but it is one of my biggest fears to find myself locked out. I am horrified that I might lock my keys in the car or that I might close our locked front door, only to discover that my keys are still inside, which would prevent me from getting into my car with young children (especially in this cold weather). My three year old son usually does a good job reminding me to make sure that I have important things before we leave the house: “Mom do you have your phone, keys, water, grocery list, snack, etc.” He gets this neat trick from hearing my husband and I constantly double checking to make sure the other has everything that we need before leaving.
On this particular evening we were going to pick up our eggs from a local farmer. It would be a quick trip so I was not concerned about dressing warmly. The children had sweaters and a blanket and I had my light jacket and some thin gloves. I figured I could stand the cold for the three minutes it takes to get the eggs and exchange money while the babies were warm in the running car.
The egg pick up was quick just as I had predicted and were were there and back in less than twenty minutes. That is when I realized that my well meaning son had locked the screen door while holding the door for his sister and I. Once the door closed behind us it locked. I discovered this while trying to quickly get the eggs inside before carrying my sleeping children in as well. To my distress, I discovered that the screen door was locked. I tried the back door but the hinge lock was in place so even though I could unlock both the knob and deadbolt I could not get the door to open past the third lock.
(To be continued…)