A Lesson in Working Together

Yesterday I went on a field trip with Andrew. It has been planned out for a while, but we all know what that means. I had paid for the trip and was ready but the week and a half leading up to the day of the trip, life started getting in the way, as is it seems to do when I make plans ahead of time. Paul was a key part of this plan working. I was going to take Mady to a friends house on the way to the school. Paul was going to pick her up on his way home and go home to the boys.

Paul found out he had to go out of town. Well, great. That makes things more difficult! At the end of last week Caleb comes home and tells me he has band practice at 5 (I wasn't going to be home until 5:30). Hmmm.....somehow we will make it work. My biggest concern wasn't how Caleb was going to get there, but more that Isaac and Bryce would be home alone for a little while. This was a first experience for me. Caleb is always here to keep an eye on things. We talked to the boys and they said they could handle it. They had phone numbers by the phone and promised they were going to prove themselves responsible. So, I decided since we have friends in the neighborhood that could help out if need be, we would go for it.

The field trip was fun. Exhausting, but I enjoyed getting to go on a field trip with a child that still wanted me to go with him! At 3, while on our way home, I called the house. No one answered. I called many times. No answer. We just recently got this new invention called a house phone. We had done away with it a couple of years ago when Caleb got his cell phone. When that did not work out, we decided we needed to have a phone available to ALL of the kids in case of an emergency. I thought maybe Isaac just didn't know if he should answer it or something. I was trying to keep myself calm and decide if I should try to get someone to go check on him. About that time my phone, which has a very low battery at this point because a little boy wanted to take pictures at every rock on the field trip, rings. It is a strange phone number but I thought I should answer it under the circumstances. It was Caleb.

Isaac had gone in the house, put his ID away as he always does and took the dog out to potty. Our doorknobs can be opened from the inside when they are locked. He locked himself out of the house in the backyard. Caleb had gone to a friends house to call hoping there was a key outside somewhere. There wasn't. I told him they were going to have to sit outside and wait for me to get home.

I come close to panic-mode. I am sitting on a bus coming back from New Orleans, still over an hour away from the school. Not only are the two kids going to be home alone, but they are locked OUTSIDE! A friend in the neighborhood helped Bryce get in the backyard (our backyard is completely fenced in, over the driveway, and the gate has to have an opener to open), gave them strict instructions that no one is to enter or exit the backyard and takes Caleb to the school.

I get a text from Paul after a while that says the boys got in the house. I call the house and ask how they got in, scared of what I am about to have to replace or fix (I am thinking broken window).

"We worked together and got in the house!"
"And, how did you do that?"
(I am not going to put on here how they did it because I don't want to help anyone else in to my house)
"Is anything broken?"
"No ma'am."
"So, y'all worked together without fighting or arguing?"
"Yes ma'am."
"And a crisis was resolved. Isn't it amazing how that works?" (we have this conversation a LOT in our house with the frequent arguments and fights).

Mom was able to breath much better for the last 20-30 minutes of the ride. I am very proud of them for working together and coming up with a solution by themselves. I am not ready to make them coming home alone a regular occurrence but I will feel much better next time they have to. After we got back, I picked the boys up at home, went to get Caleb from band, dropped off the boys at home, took Andrew to Cub Scouts and went to get Mady. It was a LOOOOONNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG day for this Momma!!!