Thursday thoughts

Okay, this story was too good to keep to myself.

Yesterday morning got off to a rocky start a little before 6am, when Joy, who has just learned to climb out of her crib, proceeded to do just that and wake everyone.  So much for Mommy's shower and quiet time before the children get up.

So, finally about an hour before our morning Bible study meeting I decided it was late enough for a nap, (for Joy, not me, alas!) stuck her in her crib, and shut the door.  She can't open the door yet.  I waited outside the door, listening, but it sounded like she'd settled right down for her nap, so I dashed downstairs for a quick shower.

Coming out again, I could hear Joy howling in the nursery.  Oops, I guess she didn't go to sleep and wants to come out.  So I went up to get her.

And couldn't open the door.

Now, both the other 2 have their own "locked myself in the nursery" stories.  Don't ask me why we haven't removed that lock -- an antique latch is not easy to replace, and Steve just hasn't gotten around to jamming that awful little privacy latch.  (Don't worry, he did it the minute he got home last night)

But back to Joy's story.

Fortunately, the nursery window is only about a foot off the floor and opens onto the porch roof, as does the window from my room.  Unfortunately, the windows are both very small and I was pretty sure my belly was not going to fit though.

So I did what any rational mother would do with an 19 month old screaming in a locked room - I shoved the 4 year old out my window and asked him to go crawl in the nursery window.  (The porch has a very flat roof, and he's crawled out there many times with his Daddy)
Only to find he couldn't get the screen up to get in the nursery.  Of course, Joy has now seen her brother and is madder than ever at being all by herself. 

Here's where it starts to get good. Time running out before we're supposed to be at Bible study (I'm leading!), I decide NOT to call Steve at work and ask him to come home.   Looking carefully at my window and my belly I decided I might be able to get myself through.  If I could fit through the spaces in the metal work of the headboard, which was directly in front of the window. (Moving the bed by myself was out of the question!)

So I started climbing over the bed and through the window.

It gets better.   Having just come from the shower, I was wearing nothing but my underwear and a bathrobe, all my clothes being locked up in the closet on the other side of the nursery!  My pajamas had had oatmeal spilled all over them and there was no way I was going to risk getting oatmeal all over the bed sheets I had just washed. I was pretty sure the bulky bathrobe was NOT going to make it through that window, so out I went, bra and panties.  What a mother will do for her child!

There was one moment when I had most of me through but wasn't sure I would be able to bend the right way to get my head to follow.  The thought of waiting with the very pregnant lower two-thirds of me (in very little clothing!) sticking out of the window until one of the neighbors noticed and called the fire department was not exactly soothing to the nerves.  It was a wonderful motivator, and, with a little wiggling and squirming, I made it!  I helped James get the screen up on the other window and sent him on in.  A few moments later he had the door unlocked and the two of them were headed off for the playroom in the best of moods.

Leaving me, feeling very exposed, stuck on the roof.  The nursery window definitely did not open enough for me to get through.  However, going back in my window and through the contortions demanded by the bed frame was not a very appealing option either!  The thought of a neighbor looking outside again motivated me to quick action, and I gave it a try.

Actually, it was a little easier going back in.

When my midwife talks about the benefits of prenatal yoga I don't think this was what she had in mind.


Anyone else have any good stories about the awkwardness of a pregnant belly, or a child locking themselves in?  Please share!