I was just visiting Angie's website and am hesitant to post this now! Ah well, you all know I'm the mother of the year anyway...

Now that the weather is warmer, we've been spending lots more time outside, naturally. Thomas, who was too little last year to remember being outside, has discovered the joy of playing outdoors. He adores his swing and just being able to go all over the yard. We have discovered however that he can "escape" the house by pushing the back door open or crawling through the slight rip in he sliding screen door. Fortunately we have caught him before any disaster has befallen. Until this morning...

I really had no idea that the back door had been left open. I was starting some laundry and picking up the bathroom when I hear a banging on the door. I darted out and there stands the neighbor lady.....pause the story.....

These neighbors have HATED us since the day we moved in. I've caught the husband WATCHING my house at night more than once. They are retired so they are home all the time and he is a FANATIC about his yard, so he is outside from dawn till dusk. And everytime we go out, he's watching us. He's vocalized more than once that he doesn't like it when we have campfires and ash blows into his yard or the fact that we have a trampoline. Back to the story...

So the neighbor lady yells, "Your kid is outside alone!" I fly into the yard and find him, playing down by the swingset. I run to retrieve him, thanking God with every step that he had gone down into the yard and not down the driveway to the road! As I come back up to the house she is standing there with her hands on her hips. "Thank you so much!", I told her. She looks at me and says, "We have seen this child outside SEVERAL times alone. If we see him out again, we are calling the police." And she huffs off. I came inside trembling. I felt so humiliated and awful. It scared me to death that Thomas had gotten out so quickly and gotten away from the house. And now here was someone telling me that they were watching for it to happen again so they could involve the police! I feel like an awful parent...

I've tried to put myself in their shoes. If I saw my neighbors 18 month old wandering out in the yard, I probably would have gone over to see if the parents knew. I'm glad that she alerted me...it could have been way worse. I just feel like they are out to get us. I've installed locks on the doors so it won't happen again and I will be way more mindful...I just can't let go of the feeling like such a failure as a parent!