No Problem Free Days

I was almost fooled into thinking that today would be problem free. Everything seemed to be perfect. Yep, you saw it. That little word "seemed". You would think that after all these years I would realize that perfection is only a mirage. The beautiful oasis with cool water and swaying palm trees is in reality nothing more than hot sand and sweaty, spitting camels. Maybe not that bad, but you get the picture.

I rode with Jeff today on his bike. We took beautiful back roads for a relaxing two hours before returning home. My first clue that something was up was when we pulled into the driveway and Nikki and Jeremiah were standing waiting for us. I could feel the muscles in my neck beginning to tighten as I went through a mental checklist of every possible tragedy. Well, almost every tragedy.

I hadn't even gotten off of Jeff's bike when Nikki said that the door to the deck was broken. My first thought was that Joshua slammed the door shattering the glass. Oh, if only. No, they couldn't get the door opened. No big deal, the door's stuck.

"But Mom, the kids can't get in, they've been stuck out there for almost an hour!"

"What kids?" I didn't really want to know. This wasn't going to be good. Our deck is 25 feet off of the ground.

"Joshua, Jakob..............and...............Josiah!"

Ok, deep breath. It can't be that bad, right? That's where that little word "seems" comes back in to play.

I went up the stairs and into the house removing my helmet on the way. The door didn't look broken. Then I saw Josiah's big blue eyes and tear stains on his little cheeks. I turned the door knob and it wouldn't budge. Jeff came in a few seconds after me and he tried it. Nothing. Jos looked up at his papa knowing that he could open the door. Not happening.

When the baby realized that the door wasn;t going to open, he began to cry. Making matters all the worse. There was some little girl in our kitchen, I have no idea who she was, but she wouldn't be quiet. The dogs were freaking out because some strange kid was in the house, the baby was crying, Joshua was bouncing and Jake was chattering. And we had no idea how to get the door open or get the kids inside.

When Jeff realized the door was not going to open he decided to try to pull kids in through the window. You know it's not gonna be that easy. There are several feet between the edge of the deck and the window and it's a loooong way down. Jeff removed the screen and Joshua, oh my gosh Joshua, picked up the baby, and with his arms stretched out as far as they would go, pushed him toward the window. Jeff leaned over the sink and somehow there was just enough stretching between the three of them that they were able to get Josiah in the house. Next came Jakob through the window the same way. No way Joshua's cave man butt was going to be so lucky. That kid's a side of beef!

We were going to have to find a way to get the door open. Removing the knob didn't work. Pushing and pulling didn't work, neither did screaming, cursing or crying. When all else fails..........get the sawz-all out. With the kids, well 2/3's of them, safe I was now worried about my door.

One of the good things about being married to a contractor is that, usually, they know what they're doing. This was one of those times. Jeff was able to saw through the lock and open the door with minimal damage. Well except fror traumatized kids and a two year old with sunburned ears.

Everything turned out ok. But I still don't have any idea who that little girl was.