THE Mommy
It’s Sunday morning. 6am.
I’m in bed with BamBam…drifting in and out of sleep. Been sick and coughing for days now, so I haven’t been sleeping restfully. When suddenly I’m awoken by a very loud
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP...
Alarm clock? Nope. I was actually smart enough to turn that off last night. [HA, take THAT, Daddy!]
CRAP…IT’S THE FIRE ALARM!
Princess comes running into my bedroom screaming hysterically. I pull myself out of my semi-sleeping fog to say don’t worry, sweetie, Daddy’s just cooking in the kitchen. I reach for my glasses. I can’t see my hand in front of my face without them. BamBam is awake and giving me a concerned look.
I shake my head in an attempt to clear it and pull myself out of bed. The constant BEEP BEEP BEEP and now Princess screaming…Too. Much. Noise. The dogs come running to me. I can’t yell downstairs to make sure everything is OK. I lost my voice on Thursday and I’m still not able to do much more than whisper. My attempt at yelling comes out more like a squeak.
The Daddy comes running up the stairs. It’s not me. NOT the kitchen.
OK, I’m really awake now.
Princess is still screaming. She’s running around like a chicken with her head cut off. What do we do, Mommy…what DO WE DO??
My husband checks the attic and then announces that he’s going down to check out the basement. Time is standing still.
Think. Think. Think.
I grab a sweatshirt and slippers and instruct Princess to go to her room to do the same. She just stands there screaming we need to get out, Mommy. I go to her room to get her something warm to put on.
I scoop up BamBam, grab Princess by the hand and head down the stairs. No obvious smoke. Perhaps I’ll get the car out of the garage while THE Daddy assesses the situation. It’s all of 10 degrees outside (yes, that’s Fahrenheit, not Celsius). We have time. It’s not as if the house is up in flames. We've all been sick the last couple of weeks...I'm not standing out in the cold if it's not necessary.
The dogs are frantic around me. The kids are screaming. The alarm is still going off. Part of me wishes I was the kid so that someone could tell me what to do.
Suddenly it’s quiet and my husband comes running out of the basement with the cover to our toilet. On top is a melted candle still smoldering. He lit the candle for our party ON THURSDAY and forgot to extinguish it.
We’re counting our blessings today. We’re also going to come up with a fire plan with the kids. Princess was so distraught that she didn’t know what to do. At school, she always knows what to do. I keep meaning to do this. I should have by now. I feel like a very bad mom.
Have you come up with a fire plan for your family?
Reader Comments (2)
So scary... Remind me to show you the hole alby and I melted on top of the TV one night.
A plan is a wonderful idea.
If it helps... Princess and I discussed the mailbox as a meeting place in November. I had brought some fire safety posters to share with the kids when I was babysitting.
I'm sure the Daddy feels just awful.
I suggest keeping candles to well traveled areas or use a flameless candle air freshener combo in that particular room.
In the end I'm very glad everything turned out ok.
Ahh, good point made in this post. I agree totally. A lot of need here. I think I will talk this up tonight with the family. Scary, but in a good way. Have a great day!