FAILED

I failed at motherhood today.

Today is Tuesday, aka garbage day. Andrew takes the trash from the shed out back to the front. Oliver closes the door behind him. I noticed a few times throughout the day that the backdoor was left unlocked, but I was always busy when I noticed it and thought, "I have to remember to lock that later."

Fast forward to 4:30pm. I'm chopping up some cilantro for dinner with my back to the backdoor. There's music playing, so I don't hear what's going on behind me. I glance over my shoulder to check on Oliver and see that the door is wide open. My heart sank. Amazingly, I spot Oliver right away on our back porch, and I ran outside to him. I'm trying to convince myself that he's OK and I'm OK, but I can't help but think about the wooded area and creek behind our house. I'm so lucky I looked right when I did. I can't even think about what could have happened.

Moments later, my neighbor came by. I started to chat with her and confessed what just happened. She told me about the time her daughter broke out of the house. She was two-and-a-half at the time. When her mom was upstairs, she grabbed the keys and left to go check the mail! My neighbor starts freaking out, calling her, searching the house and then outside. She finds her at the mailboxes trying to fit the key into one. Mind you, you have to cross our parking lot to get to those mailboxes. How terrifying for mothers (and fathers, too, as I assume similar things happen to dads out there).

It reminded me of an article I'd read just the other day on this website. It discusses mothers being charged with crimes when their kiddos escape (specifically, when they're napping). What an awful thing!