Dramatic Evening

Zach has been out of town all this week (he’s coming home tonight thank the LORD). During this time of the year he has to be gone quite a bit as it’s his biggest time with Aflac and a lot of his bigger accounts are spread out all over the southeast. In years past I’ve gone with him and even last year we made a family trip out of it. This year travel really isn’t an option for me so I’ve been at home a lot with Kye on my own.

I think I do pretty well handling it…I don’t get nearly as scared as I used to. We live on a MEGA busy corner and have an awesome alarm system so it helps me to feel safe. While Zach’s gone I always deadbolt all the doors and set the alarm on “instant” so it’ll go off if anyone even opens a door. I still don’t sleep well (most nights I can fall asleep until 12 or 1!) but overall I feel safe.

Last night Kye and I went to eat at Mrs. Charlotte’s to celebrate Brad’s birthday and while we were there a thought hit me: did I set the alarm when we left? I was a little nervous going home because it’s getting dark early now and I didn’t like the idea of walking into our big, empty house with no alarm set. I told Mrs. Charlotte I might call her if I was scared.

We got home at 7:20 (thankfully Kye got a bath at their house!) and I needed to rush him to bed since he had school this morning. When we pulled in the driveway I saw that some lights were left on in the hosue which isn’t like me. Then when we walked in the garage door Levi and Sadie were flipping out in their crates and the alarm wasn’t giving me that “beep-beep-beep” welcome that I’m used to. Before even rounding the corner I saw that the door to the backyard was opened. It wasn’t swung open, but it was opened in a way that maybe I’d shut it and it hadn’t closed all the way.

Not taking any chances (I am so one of those people that tell the horror movie girls to TURN and RUN and not check out the house!), I grabbed Kye and jumped back in the car. I pulled into the driveway then called Mrs. Charlotte and told her I wasn’t sure what to do. She told me to leave the driveway so I drove down the street then tried to call my friend, Kori, who lives nearby thinking her husband could come check things out for me. I couldn’t get a hold of her so I called Zach (who was shopping at Ikea in Atlanta at the time) and he said to call the police. I told him I really didn’t want to wait on the police to show up since Kye needed to get in the bed so I had him try calling Michael (Kori’s husband). Luckily Zach got in touch with him and Michael came right over with his gun to check things out.

When he went in the house I thought to myself “Great. Watch someone be in there and shoot him or something and then it’s my fault that poor Kori has to take care of her two babies all on her own.” I also thought about how grateful I am to be a woman and that I don’t have to be brave in situations like these! He came out about as quick as he went in and said the tv was still there so no one had robbed us. I felt better, but as all us ladies know, I sure as HECK wasn’t going back in that house alone!!! He said he didn’t mind walking through with me so we walked through every room and checked every closet, behind every shower curtain and even in the attic spaces. I felt kinda stupid but I knew if we didn’t check it out together that I wouldn’t be able to function because I’d keep thinking some guy was hiding somewhere waiting to rape me.

It was also embarrassing b/c my husband is out of town all week…I mean who picks up when they don’t have to? Sure enough we walk in to inspect the bedroom and a lovely pair of grandma-stretched out-hole filled- panties are laying in the middle of the floor. Awesome. Plus I’m trying to get a TON done with this baby coming so I have mini-projects taking place in pretty much every room of the house. I was mortified that he saw all my messes, but it was worth it for me to feel safe and secure!

Once everything checked out Michael headed back home. I guess what had happened was that Kye had helped me let the dogs out and I failed to check that the door was fully closed before we left so when I set the alarm it didn’t set b/c a door was opened. Who knows how the light got left on! I felt fine about everything but still immediately locked all the doors and set the alarm on instant while I rushed to get Kye ready for bed.

I brushed his teeth and he went potty then we were changing into his pjs when the alarm started going off!!! I grabbed Kye, the house phone, and my cell and bolted out the front door. I hadn’t heard any chimes go off like someone had opened the door (we have it set to chime each time an exterior door opens b/c when you have a pool in your backyard and a toddler at home you can’t be too careful!) but I wasn’t going to take any chances. The only thought I had was that someone could have been hiding when Michael and I did the check then when I was back in Kye’s room they tried to make a quick exit out the door.

I thought I was pretty quick on my feet to grab the house phone too. After the incident with Titus I remember wishing they had a house phone b/c when you call 911 from a home phone they can see your address and all and it saves that time having to tell them. I left the alarm going off and the dogs running around and Kye was still in a t-shirt and just his underwear. Neither of us had shoes and I didn’t have my car keys.

As soon as I walked out the front door I saw some headlights come into view and it was a neighbor and his son on their golf cart. He asked if I was okay and I told him I wasn’t sure. He was SO nice and right away said that the Lord had put him in my path to help me and that everything was going to be fine. He and his son were beyond sweet and stayed with me the whole time through everything. Zach called because the alarm people called his cell phone (my phone never rang which is annoying!) they told him that I had set the “away” alarm instead of the “instant” alarm and had set off the motion detector. Now I felt pretty stupid. But it’s an honest mistake. Every time we leave the house I set the “away” one so, in my rush, I just did that rather than the instant.

I felt okay to go back in so the neighbor, Craig, went with me and we turned off the alarm. Levi was freaking out. Kye was having a BLAST because he was up late and getting to be around all kinds of fun people. Craig was SUPER sweet and told me that I shouldn’t hesitate to call him anytime I need anything while Zach is away. He moved in a bunch of heavy packages for me (our front porch furniture came – yay!) and we went back outside. Mrs Charlotte then called and said the alarm people had called her! Still, my phone had yet to ring!!! She was all worried about us and I told her to tell the alarm people not to send the police because Craig said he’d check the house one more time just to make sure.

The alarm people said they had tried to call me and it went straight to voicemail (my blackberry has been mega struggling lately…can’t wait for new phone time in Jan!). Since they couldn’t get a hold of me they had already sent out the police. Craig and I talked about it and decided that he and his son, Rhett, would check the house while Kye and I waited outside for the police. I could just see all four of us going inside then the police pulling up and shooting him thinking he was an intruder or something haha! Plus him going in alone meant I wouldn’t have the mortifying moment of seeing him (and his teenage SON) see my awesome underwear sprawled out on the floor.

When the police came Kye was thrilled (I mean it’s pretty cool to a two year old to have policemen come to your house!). I told them what had happened and that everything was okay. I also told them that I usually feel very safe since we live in a nice neighborhood and on a busy corner. They said I shouldn’t  feel safe b/c bad stuff happens all the time everywhere and that I don’t need to ever open my door, even during the day. Um. Thanks for the advice but telling me that at 8:30 at night when I’m going to be alone isn’t a great idea. Then Craig starts telling them how our neighborhood has had a lot of suspicious people driving around and even walking around and ringing doorbells trying to take peoples pecans. I didn’t need to hear that either. And I also didn’t need to hear them start to tell stories about bad things that have happened in our nearby neighborhoods. No thanks.

Craig gave me their number and I WILL be calling if anything ever goes down again. He even said to call just when I need something lifted! So, so nice and we both said that God put him in my path at just the right moment 🙂 I mean who goes riding a golf cart in the dark? I was pretty thankful he had been there and that I can call on him in the future for things (Michael also said Kye and I could come stay there ANYTIME we need to and that he’s also just a phone call away…some of the people I’ve met in the neighborhood may not be to sweet but these two guys are AWESOME!). 

I had decided I was not staying alone! Even if it meant driving the 25 min to Charlotte’s and getting Kye to bed waaaaaay late I was willing to do it. Luckily Mom got home right about when all of this was going down (she’d been out of town too!) and she offered to spend the night. Whew! I got Kye into bed (he was pretty worked up…it was a LOT of excitement before bedtime!) and he was still asleep by 8:30. Late, but it’s about the same time he goes to bed on Wed nights b/c of church so it wasn’t horrible.

Mom was so sweet to come over and I felt SO much better. I still didn’t get to bed until late (we chatted for awhile then I talked to Zach for a long time before bed) but I was able to shower and go to sleep without any fears which was a blessing. Of course it was still a horrible night! Levi was so freaked out by everything that he woke up multiple times barking like a maniac. I ended up locking him up in his crate for the night. Kye woke up twice crying out in fear (which I worried would happen…before I tucked him in he said “the door was open and the alarm went off and the police came” guess he’s old enough where he semi-understands adult conversation!). Even Zeke woke up and some point and wanted me to feed him more food. Ugh. Being this pregnant means I cannot fall back to sleep right away so I spent a lot of the night awake.

Mom couldn’t get over how crazy the evening was and she even joked with me saying “do you have this stuff happen so you can write a blog entry about it?!?” Haha! I wish it’d been a joke! That junk wore me OUT! I’m glad everything was okay and thankful for everyone who came to my rescue…and I’ll be MUCH more careful about checking doors and the alarm code keys I hit from now on (and I also won’t be answering my door even during the day…) 🙂

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Emily Parker

Hey Y'all, I'm Emily! I'm a stay at home mom and consider parenting to be my passion. Disney is my happiest place and I love making memories as a family together. I'm a big believer in transparency and share all of my real-life moments as a mother of four.

My work has been featured on Love What Matters, Today Parenting and Babywise.Life. I'm also honored to be a member of the Babywise Friendly Blog Network.

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