That time where I got locked out

Staying home with a 22 month old can be frightening and hilarious all at the same time. Most days go by pretty easily. We play, eat, nap, run a few errands, hit up a park playground or library story time, come home and chill in the AC until Noland arrives home!

A few weeks ago, we had one situation that I have to write about, mostly for the record books. It is one of those days where you think to yourself, "Man, I deserve the 'Mother of the Year' award--not!" The truth is: No one is perfect, we all make mistakes. I've stopped beating myself up about this story and now, I find it perfectly hilarious! Now back to the story...

We were playing in the living room, putting together puzzles, reviewing the names of colors. He can now say blue and yellow really well. It was dim in the living room so I decided to open up the blinds, let in a little light and live a little.

Soon, NJ was running to the door to try to open our large sliding glass door. It has multiple locks on it so he can't open it himself. Lately, it has been so hot that I've let him go play Corn-hole on the porch and watched from the living room. He doesn't seem to mind the heat as his curious little toddler self throws the corn bags onto the ramp.

On this particular day, I decided to go out to the porch and rock in the rocking chair as he played. He also has a small rocking chair and sometimes he'll sit next to me and we rock together, just enjoying the summer heat. I walked out onto the porch and he was circling the chairs. He began to throw the corn bags. He threw one.. two.. three.. and started to go pick them up... but he wasn't going to pick up the bags and play again... No.

He decided it was time for him to get back into the living room AC. He pulls open the door and closes it behind him. I walk towards the door to head back into the living room as well. If he wasn't going to be outside, I wasn't either. It was like 100 degrees out. As I approached the door, I watched his tiny little fingers push down the lock... "Uhht ohh," he said muffled through the glass.

I was in disbelief. I pulled the sliding glass door and sure enough, it was locked. Luckily, by the grace of God, I had my cell phone in hand. NJ began to laugh at me. He started push his face against the glass with a grin. I played along with him and attempted to coach him in order to help him unlock the door.

10 minutes later, he had realized that I was locked out. He had no idea how to open the lock, and gave up to go sit in his chair and watch TV, while occasionally eyeing me through the glass...

I began to panic. I called the locksmith to see how much it would cost to get into the house. It wasn't too expensive but I didn't really want to spend the money. I then accepted failure, and called Noland to come open the garage and unlock the house. He was obviously in class so he didn't answer his cell... Crap.

I had to call his office and explain that I had an emergency and he needed to come home. Instead, I somewhat panicked as they answered. I'm pretty sure I said, "Hey this is Mrs. Robinson, I need Coach to come home immediately. I locked myself out of the house and my toddler is inside." The woman on the other end of the phone said, "Ok, I'll let him know."  She probably thought, "Wow, Coach picked a real winner."

Noland was home 15 minutes after I called and unlocked the door! Freedom. Freedom from the heat and oppression of the toddler who locked me out. I promised Noland that I would never allow this to happen again as he headed back to work.

It is a fact that I messed up. I had a bad day, a day where I wasn't as vigilant as I could have been. I had no idea that my child who is not even 2 would know how to lock the door. I know I'm not the first mom who has ever been locked out of the house by a child, nor will I be the last. From now on, when we play on the porch, I will make sure to take the house keys!  Ha ha!

Here is the moment that he realized that he locked me out. His eyes got really big... Oops. Cracks me up now!

Do you have a story like this? a #momfail, if you will...  I'd love to hear it if you do.

Pep Talk to Myself

Honestly, I get inspired to write when I need to give myself a pep talk. So this is my pep talk to myself & for anyone else who needs a pep talk on this lovely Monday.
Lately, my family and I have had a lot of changes happening. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, we moved. On top of the move, I've been applying to jobs. Today, I'm happy to share that I finally got an entry level social work position. Woohoo!
Thankful, thankful is what I should feel. I should be glad that I'm finally able to show what I have to the professional working world. I finally have a professional job to put on my resume and an opportunity to learn and grow in my profession of choice. I can help others. And last, my family will finally have a second income which gives us the opportunity to start saving towards a home or paying towards student loans. But, this blog is a place of honesty... And for some reason, in the past few weeks, I have had so many other thoughts and worries circling in my head like: how is this going to work? What if I don't like the position? Will my son adjust back to the daycare schedule? How am I going to pick him up in time so that he is not the last one to be picked up every day? Am I a bad mom because I'm going to work? Will I be able to get off all the holidays? How am I going to keep our house clean and home cooked dinner on the table every night? Will it be worth the extra money? And so much more.

I get stuck on these thoughts. Stuck, thinking the worst possible scenario in my head. I like to talk thoughts out loud so my husband has heard all my deepest fears, about being a working mom and wife, spoken out loud on a daily basis for the past few weeks. Luckily, he is patient and reassuring that it will all work out. And I ,too, know it always does but I have chosen to wallow in these worries. Keyword: chosen

The internet has a vast amount of inspirational writers. And I've been reading a lot of different inspirational blog posts lately about thoughts. It all brings me back to the truth of the fact that we are in control of our thoughts. Did you get that? Let me say it one more time, loud and clear: I CONTROL MY OWN THOUGHTS. And just incase you don't know.. You control your own thoughts, too!

This means that if I am thinking the worst scenario possible, than I am doing this to myself. It's not the world, my friends or family, it's me. That's sound like I'm dumping you.. "It's not you, it's me." And it's the truth. What is it about me? Maybe, it's a sign that I have too much time on my hands, my inner anxiety and insecurities, all coming to the surface. I am not keeping myself busy enough. Instead of focusing on the last month that I have to spend every waking minute of the day with my sweet son, I am thinking about all the unknowns that surround my new job. Well... It has finally come to a point where I am pulling myself out of this hole that has seemed to swallow me into an abyss of negativity. This negativity has affected my attitude, relationships, and overall mood.

I have had to remind myself that I control my own thoughts. I can choose to obsess on whatever thought I want, good or bad. And guess what, the more you think about something, the more it somewhat controls you. Don't you want the good thoughts to be in control? If you are always thinking about something negative, than you are probably going to make negative comments, which only draw others into your negativity. That's not inspiring or encouraging, and certainly, not the person that I want to be. "Oh, she's so negative." Some of the most positive and happy people that I know choose to focus on the blessings rather than the troubles that cross their path. And most of the time, these are the people that have far larger troubles than I. The ones who have lost loved ones, or are suffering from horrible ailments or diseases like cancer..

This reminds me of a talk that Noland and I went to last advent about happiness. Our church had a priest come lead a mission for advent (www.fatherscott.com). He was awesome, engaging, and inspiring. One of the things that he talked about was how, all the time, he hears people say: "Fr. Scott, I'll be happy when..." This really hit home for me. This a thought that crosses my mind from time to time. For me, it's: I'll be happy when I can have another child. I'll be happy when I get a job paying this much. I'll be happy when we can buy a house. I'll be happy when we pay off our student loans. I'll be happy when I am able to buy some new clothes. And the list goes on.
One of the points that Fr. Scott made that really inspired me and helps me to this day: BE HAPPY NOW.

All of those things will most likely happen. Or maybe they won't. But why not CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY NOW. After all, I CONTROL MY OWN THOUGHTS. And I have many things to be thankful for and happy about. I will list a few of them now as a reminder to my self.. Listen up, self!:
As I write this, my 22 month old is giving me kisses and hugs. I have a place to live. I am alive! I have clothes to wear. I have a family that loves me, unconditionally. I was able to spend almost 2 years at home with my son. I am healthy. I have food to eat. I have a computer and technology that not everyone has, like an iPhone. I have great friends that I talk to on a weekly basis. And, I have friends that I haven't talked to in months or years that I know will pick up right where we left off, if I called them right this second. I am a Catholic Christian and I am able to live and practice my faith openly. I have found a job in an economy where not everyone has been so lucky. I live in America and have freedoms that not every person has.

There are so many things to be thankful for. For me, making a list of positives far outweighs my negatives. So self, stop it. Stop thinking negatively and just be happy! Focus on the positives, be thankful for the blessings!

One final thought before I finish this post. I read a quote recently that also helped me: "Someone else is thankful with far less than what you have..." I think this is something beautiful to ponder. If you've ever let your thoughts control you, now is the time to stop! Take control! Be thankful, be happy and love this life you were given!

I'll leave you with a cute picture of Noland and I (NJ was tired) from a few weeks ago:

Now go have a HAPPY Monday.

Sea World Orlando

Date of Visit: April 2013

Cost: $95 Adult (FL Teachers get free tickets)

To get your complimentary free ticket, remember your teacher ID, your teaching certificate, and a paystub from the past 30 days.
Child (Ages 3-9) $90

Hours: 9:30 A.M. - 10:00 P.M.

Seaworld Website

This was Noland's 1st trip to an amusement park. He loved looking at the animals in the up close exhibits.

Highlights: The #1 highlight for us had to be our little guy's face when we were in the Shark Encounter or in the Dolphin underwater viewing area. He loved being that close to the animals and they were really neat looking. The Sea Lion show is always a favorite of ours as well. The Manta ride (which we didn't go on this time because he couldn't ride) is a fantastic roller coaster and one of our favorites. They set up the queue area brilliantly too so that you can look at the aquariums as you are waiting in line. Finally, the fact that teachers get in free is a huge plus.

Disappointments: They don't let you take your stroller anywhere which is frustrating when you have a baby. The crowds were also pretty big too and there were long lines to get into some of the exhibits. One of the things we looked forward to so much was the Turtle Trek exhibit because the commercials made it seem so cool. It was a nice sea turtle exhibit, but it fell well below my expectations. We also waited more than an hour to get into this exhibit.
It is basically a nice aquarium plus Shamu for more than double the price. The price has to be the #1 disappointment for the value, but it works for teachers.

Here are some more photographs from the trip.

Dolphin Underwater Viewing

More Dolphins

The Dolphins were our son's favorite part.

A Sea Turtle in the Turtle Trek exhibit.

More turtles.

Even more turtles

Our last turtle picture.

Random Fishes

More Random Fishes

Some neat looking fishes with tiger stripes.

More fishes with stripes.

Some random fishes including a Blue Tang which is one of our favorites.

Two Moray Eels swimming.

Crazy looking Moray Eel.

Shamu and another Killer Whale.

Walrus from the Sea Lion show.

We gave this place a 3 out of 5 elephants!!

It was a very good aquarium. However, it is nowhere near the Baltimore Aquarium. I previously said that it was much better than the Florida Aquarium, but I think I was wrong there. While Sea World has cooler marine life than most, I actually prefer the Florida Aquarium now. This place is definitely above average though if you don't consider price. It is also important to remember that teachers get in free. If you like aquariums and are in the Orlando area, then check it out. However, it is not as cool as some of the other animal attractions in the Central Florida area. I will say that seeing Shamu for the first time is an experience you will never forget. It is not as cool anymore though I do not think. If you can only go to one zoo in the Orlando Area I would suggest Animal Kingdom. Or making the hour drive over to Lowry Park Zoo or Busch Gardens.

Let us know what you think of this post or the SeaWorld Orlando!

-Noland