Burglar

This weekend big brother turned nine. He didn’t want a big party, he couldn’t even pick out what kind of present we could buy him. A month ago he wanted to go to New York City for his birthday and invite a few friends over instead of the party. As the time came up we asked him about his birthday plans. He said he’d like his friends to come hang out, go eat Chinese food and just relax. What a kid! We went to eat at a Chinese restaurant over in Cornwall. I’d have to say it was a treat not to decorate and clean up. It’s always a team of us, grandparents, totas and auntie, working to help out. After dinner his two best friends went swimming with him at the aquatic center before coming back to our house. When figuring out who was going in what vehicles we worked out that I would get a ride over to the restaurant with my mom, aka the grandma, and then would catch a ride home while my husband took the brothers and the two guests swimming. My sister in law gave me a ride home and I thought “wow my boy has grown up so much” followed by “holy I’ll be home two hours before anyone makes it back.” I said goodbye to my in-laws and walked to my front door. There were plenty of puddles to hop over as I made my way. As I stood on the porch looking in my purse for the house key I realized I didn’t have it. My husband and I were down to just one copy of the house key between the two of us and he had it on our car set. There I was, with no jacket on and no house key. I went around to every window and tried it. The one time my boys followed the rules of keeping their windows locked and I was praying one would be open. No luck. The rain was coming down and it was freezing so I took shelter in our storage unit of a truck and made a game plan. My phone was dead so I couldn’t call for a ride. It was too cold and I was too drenched to make it far, I could already feel my breath getting taken away by the cold. I walked to my neighbors to use a phone but no one was home. I tried the next neighbor down the road but they weren’t home either. All the dogs in our little area were going nuts and I was out of luck. I took refuge in the storage unit slash truck to think again. It dawned on me. There was only one window I hadn’t attempted to open and it was our teeny kitchen window. It›s maybe two feet wide and one foot tall, not only that but it was about eight feet high. I walked through the cold water that was pooling around our yard and thought I could lift a big metal ladder that was outside to that window but I couldn›t lift it. My only other option was a lawnmower ramp. After much dragging and propping I was able to position it under the kitchen window. I slowly and shakily made my way up and tried the last window. It opened! Woohoo! But now I was nowhere near the height to crawl through it. With my hands above my head I lifted myself up in the most desperate pull-up or push-up of my life. I managed to get into the window and not land in the sink. Our trusty little dog didn›t make a sound. Some guard dog he is. I found him cowering under the end table looking terrified and shaking. By the time I had gotten into my house and changed into dry clothes there was only a half hour before the boys would be home. When they arrived home I was huddled under big fluffy blankets warming up. They all looked at me sideways when they walked in. Big brother asked, «Why are you going to bed?» I told him I wasn›t and then about how I had to break in and was just now warming up. He laughed at me and said, «hey you guys we had a birthday burglar!»