TOTAL PANIC ATTACK

Posted on June 10, 2008

I ran outside to get our mail and LOCKED MYSELF OUT OF THE HOUSE! Luckily, Chloe was napping, so she was blissfully unaware that I was outside kicking and yelling at the door to let me in! Of course, all the other doors and windows in our house were also locked, I was barefoot, and I didn’t have my phone. Thank goodness my neighbor was home and we had given Ellen a key so she could check on our cats when we are out of town. So, my neighbor drove me over to Ellen’s I got her key, and then my neighbor drove me back home.

So, what did I learn from this experience:

1) double check to make sure the door is unlocked before shutting it. We never lock the handle on our door, only the deadbolt. I suspect that one of the kids, either mine or someone else’s, locked the handle when we weren’t watching.

2) Have some sort of code with your significant other so if they get a phone call from a strange number, they answer. I called John from my neighbor’s house to get Ellen’s phone number and she could bring me a key. Of course, John didn’t answer because he didn’t recognize the number.

3) GET A HIDE-A-KEY. You would think with the number of times I lock myself out of my car and my house this would have already happened, of course it hasn’t.

4) I am also thinking of stashing a pair of shoes in our garage so, if I get locked out barefooted, I have another option.

Any other suggestions for this particular issue? I am open and willing to save myself from having this particular panic attack EVER AGAIN!