Esmé Saves the Day

This is another story about me getting locked out of the house. It is also a story of how Esmé, at the tender age of two, has become an adept and useful member of our family.

The first thing to know is that our front door automatically locks once it's shut. (You can see where this is going...) It was afternoon, we were watching a movie, and there was a dirty diaper that needed to be taken to the trash. So, not thinking about it, I dashed out barefoot into the drizzly day, diaper in hand, and tossed it in the trash just in time to hear the front door slowly click shut. Locked.

That day was Esmé's second birthday. It was also the day Roo's parents had flown home and Roo went in for his first day of work, so I was a little on edge to begin with. Locking myself out of my house in a strange country did not help.

At first I thought this had to be a bad dream, so I waited for a moment to wake up. That didn't happen, so I proceeded pull and push and jerk the door handle as hard as I could. Nothing. Okay, then I looked around for a window to climb through or a fence to hop over to access the backyard: none. I looked at the neighbor's house and thought about asking to use their phone to call Roo, but I realized I didn't know his phone number--or anyone's phone number, for that matter. I didn't even know anyone!

This is when Esmé discovered I was gone. She started saying "Uh oh" repeatedly. Then she started crying. Then the baby (laying on the sofa) started wailing. I was starting to panic. Roo wouldn't be home for another hour. That's when I actually tried to break down the door. I made a good effort, but it didn't budge.

Thankfully, there is a mail slot in our door through which I was trying to reassure Esmé that everything was going to be okay by feebly calling through it and wiggling my fingers at her. I asked her to pull the door handle, and she tried but it looked like she couldn't reach it. I told her to go get a chair to stand on to reach the handle--she got as far as looking for a chair, but her response after that was "Uh Oh!" and she came running back. I thought about having her pass me the keys, but they were up high on the mantle.

Then I said a prayer. Out loud. Because I was out of ideas and the babies were screaming. That is when Esmé proved her two-year-old valor. I asked her one more time to pull open the door handle. I saw her on her little tippy toes reaching for the handle. I pulled my side of the handle and she grasped hers and--free at last!--we'd been reunited.

I was so proud of my brave and obedient little girl, saving the day on her birthday!

 I look forward to many more years of her bailing me out of trouble. And from now on, I never go outside without my keys.

A brave girl

A good traveler

A studious toddler