"Don't Leave Your Child in the Car"

I'm sure everyone's read, heard and knows that.

But has anyone heard "Don't Lock Your Mom Out of the House"? If not, you may want to review that with your children. And make sure they can open the front door too.

I was chatting with the gardener this afternoon when Kael slammed the front door on me. Usually this isn't a problem - I just open the door again. However, I chatted with the Orkin guy this morning and locked the bottom lock on the handle (it's usually unlocked from when Truong leaves the house in the morning). When this lock is engaged, it becomes self-locking.

That means when Kael slammed the door on me, I was locked out. For real. And the slider in the back was locked too. I didn't have my cell phone to call Grandma and my neighbors were at work. It was 98 degrees out and I wasn't going to walk the mile and a half to Shana's house for my extra key. I'd pass out from the heat before I got to the end of the block! This door knob is not only sticky but it's also a knob not a handle - so when you add those two elements together, Kael has a really hard time opening it. In fact, I don't remember if he's ever opened the front door.

So the gardener and I are looking at each other - each with an "oh sh*t, what do I do now?" look on our faces. Well, his is probably more of a "Can I, in good conscience, leave her -- I've got other houses to do before my day is done" look. I call Kael through the door, telling him to open the door, please. I hear the knob rattle.

Kael: "Mom! I can't."
Me: "Yes you can!"
More rattling.
K: "Mom, help me!"
I see Malia through the window, banging on it and laughing.
M: "Just turn the knob! Use both hands!"
More rattling.
K: "I can't."
M: "Yes you can! Use both hands and turn really hard!"
More rattling and now there's banging on the door.
K: "Mom! Let me out!"
M: "KAEL USE BOTH HANDS AND OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!"

He must have sensed my urgency because all of a sudden the door whooshed open, surprising both of us. And we just stood there, not sure of how we should act or feel. In the heat of the moment, it felt like a "panic situation" but afterwards, it felt kind of silly as it was a simple matter of opening the dumb door. Plus only a couple of minutes had passed so no damage had occurred. Quite honestly, it was kind of anticlimactic.

I'm sure the gardener is thinking "Geez, this family is weird."

Especially since Truong just installed a remote garage door opener with the new system and I could have gone through that way.

DOH!