What Goes Around

At 2:20am last night I was suddenly wide awake after hearing the high pitched "beepbeepbeep" from our alarm that signals an outside door had been opened. I thought most likely the door leading to the garage hadn't closed all the way and the dog had pushed it open, so I went to check. I considered waking Chris, but he has to get up even earlier than I for work, so I let him sleep.

As I made my way down the dark hall I was confronted by a person turning towards me from the kitchen. 

My brain registered that it was my twelve year old daughter Carter before my body did, so I stood there clutching her arm and gasping in air as one does when surprised, and trying to slow my racing heart. 

Turns out she and Lesleigh (my thirteen year old) had decided to sleep in the back yard because it was too hot in the house. "We left you a note, Mom." 

Um yeah, maybe I would have seen that if it wasn't pitch black and the middle of the night. 

Which reminds of the time there was no note...

About three or four years ago I woke in the middle of the night, and as moms are wont to do, I checked on my girls. (At that time their ages were about eight and ten.) Carter was nowhere to be found. I was whisper calling her in a panic. I woke my husband. Finally I woke Lesleigh and asked if she knew where her sister was. "Yes", she sleepily replied, "She's in there." I looked where she was pointing. The closet!! Carter had made up a little bed on the floor of Lesleigh's closet and pulled the door nearly shut. 

When I posted that mommy nightmare on Facebook, my childhood friend posted in reply, "Karma. That's all I'm saying."

Oh, right. 

My best friend Betty and I lived around the corner from each other on a T shaped cul-de-sac. I lived on the long leg, she lived on the right top side. The very cool thing about it was that our back yards met at a corner. We learned at a pretty young age -I'm thinking I was about four or five- that we could pile stuff up and climb over to visit. 

Betty had a very cool playhouse in her back yard. And on the particular night she was referencing with her "karma" comment she and her brother were going to sleep in it. So we made grand plans. Wild plans. The best plans a five and seven year old could come up with. And on that fateful night, we *almost* got away with it. 

My grandmother was babysitting. As soon as she put me and my brother to bed and turned out the light I climbed out the window and crept stealthily across the backyard, slipped over the fence, and into the playhouse. What exhilaration! What joy! A secret sleepover! 

Our celebration was short-lived, however. Before very long, Betty's dad came out and asked if I was there. I sheepishly crawled out from under the sleeping bag and allowed him to walk me home. It turned out that my grandmother also had that need to check on sleeping children; she had noticed my absence and phoned the restaurant where my parents were dining. They rushed home and called the police, who then went door to door looking for me. To this day I remember the fear and relief together evident on my parents' faces. 

So I guess in a way I deserve those middle of the night mommy frights. 

Here's a picture off Betty and I a few years later. (I'm on the left, she's on the right) I had moved away at age seven, but we remained friends; we remain friends to this day. 

Have you had any of those scary "Where is my child?!!??!" moments? What childhood adventures did you have? I'd love to hear all about it.