I come back by 5 pm and then he goes out to play…
Today was no different. I came back at 5 and rang the bell and there was no response. I dialed the home land-line and that too received the same treatment. Now, this panicked me a bit, and wondered about all possible reasons!!
I multi-tasked, rang the bell continuously, banged the door simultaneously and shouted, “Nanna, Nanna…” (We call him Nannu or Nanna at home!) And all these coordinated noises evoked no response from inside.
I called up KG and he rushed home immediately. In the mean time, I called Mom of Aaryan’s friend and asked about the kids. She said her son is playing out in the park. I rushed to the park and Aaryan is nowhere to be seen. With panting and panic-stricken voice I asked his friend about Aaryan. He informs, “Aaryan is at home”. I rushed back home and in the mean time, all the people from our floor and one above had gathered outside the door. Everybody tried to help, somebody shouting Aaryan, somebody repeating “Nannu”, the next door neighbors dialed our intercom phone from their place, another one was dialing our residence number. And the result… no sound from inside.
KG, then thought of trying from the balcony, (we are on the first floor) and he came back in few minutes with no results.
With each passing second, the panic, the fear, the weird and negative thoughts just kept on increasing, till KG gave a big push to the door and we all rushed inside…
… to see him sleeping with TV running on a decent volume.
We woke him up gently and he woke up just like any other day, oblivious to the mini heart attacks, panic attacks, the anxiety pangs that we experienced a few looooooong minutes ago.
I sat with a thud while the tears of relief glided down my face!
A few words of reprimand along with hugs and the child had this “Oh Gawd, what’s this hullabaloo” looks!
The Aftermath: The doorbell could not tolerate the onslaught and burnt itself. The door refuses to close and looks this way…
Have you had this kind of a scary and anxiety filled experience??
78 Responses
OMG ! Can understand the panic you all must’ve had..
Thanks God he is safe 🙂
Oh, it was terrible! Yes, Thank God everything was fine! 🙂
Ho dear! A bigg hug to u …. but all is well tht ends well 🙂
{{Hugs}} Meena!! True, all’s well! 🙂
oh ! that was really panicky . I had a similar experience . when my son was about two years . he was sleeping , I locked , bolted the main door and went for a shower . I locked the bathroom took bath and when I wanted to come out the door wouldn’t open . the lock got struck !!! didn’t know what to do , took out the ventilator glass panes and was looking for someone to come out into the balcony of next building , panicking , cursing and praying that my son should’nt get up and cry .
by God’ s grace a lady came out and some how I could give her my husband’s phone number , while he came running she informed our house owners .And while they all tried to open the main door and gave me instructions on how to brek the lock , my son got up and started crying .somehow they opened the window pane , broke the bathroom lock and rescued me . but it was horrible experince
Oh My God!! What a harrowing time you must have had in the bathroom!! I can visualize your plight and the relief later on!
Hi Hi, I have caused such an experience….My parents were out and I fell fast asleep in my home….A Banded Krait snake decided to pay us a visit and my neighbors found it at our doorstep…They killed the snake and then banged on the doors…And I woke up with no idea about all that happened…Guess I need to write a separate post on that…Will do soon 🙂
A banded krait!! Oooh!! Yes, do write about it, I am seeing almost all of us have given fright or experienced fright due to a closed door!! 😀
I recall, my son was six and I was unable to locate him for hours. He was playing with a new friend at his house. I still get goosebumps thinking about those few anxious hours, running around the park, calling his friends……gosh it was crazy. Only a mother can understand the feeling.
Oh Lord!! I know the feeling, Alka… the panic and the fear can cause a lot of havoc on the nerves in such situations! 😐
Oh dear!! Thank God all is well, those few hours must have been pure torture.
Thankfully, the drama lasted for a few minutes! But it seemed like hours, true! 🙂
Oh my! Big hugs, Shilpa. I can completely understand what you would have been through. Once while playing in a friend’s house, the youngest child of the family locked herself and could not open the door. It was quite a tense situation since the door was a self-locked one and there was no way to open the door. No key and no banging ‘cos the door was recently built and very strong. Then after two hours or so, the watchman had a spare key tucked somewhere and he opened the door. The girl was a small girl and by the time she came out, she was quite tense, scared and nearly unconscious because of the fear. We were so relieved after the door was opened.
Shilpa, take care.
A big hug for your cutie pie.
Joy always,
Susan
Oh my! the poor lil baby! She must be so distraught! Hugs back to you Susan! 🙂
Shilpa,
I was getting worried while reading. Thank God all is well. Please do not scold him.
Take care
Thanks Mr J! No, we didn’t scold him but told him about what we went through and what all we did! The fact is that even I have done the same as a kid! 😛
Phew. I am so glad all is well.
Happened with me once when the sister was taking a head bath aaram-se at 1 in the afternoon!
Good lord!! Such incidents scare the hell lot of you at that time, but become subject for great stories later on! 😀
OMG Shilpa…it was scary. HUGS to you. so much anxiety led hours, that panic must have been worse. Thank GOD.
It sure was Nibedita! Hugs back to you! 🙂
That should have been a lot of anxiety! Good that it ended as a normal situation. Once when I was young, we had a pressing type lock. I coolly locked the house from outside (with keys inside) and went somewhere. When I returned, obviously I had no keys to go inside! We waited for our father to return (he had another set), but on that day, he too left his keys at the office and the office was closed! We then had to take some help and force the door open, like you did 🙂
Destination Infinity
Good Lord! What an experience! The good part is that all of you were outside and no panicky thoughts gave you company! 🙂
That must be scary. Has happened to my parents once. It was a similar situation where I had slept off at home 🙂
I was chatting with my Mom and she told me all three of us, as kids (my sisters and me) have done the same at different points of time!! And we all were doing the same… sleeping like a log! 😀
Ah ha! History repeats itself! Karmic payback! :)) :)) :))
That is why, I didnt rebuke him much! 😉
I am so glad everything ended happily.
When I was about 19 or so, I too had a similar experience. It was afternoon and there was no body in the house, and I just dozed off in the hot Madras weather. My parents came and kept ringing the bell, but found no response from me, though i was sleeping near the window which was open and it was also close to the stairs, from where they were ringing the bell. But despite several rings I was not responding, they banged the door shouted my name, the whole colony was literally shouting my name, but no response. When finally found I was sleeping next to the window, they got hold of a big stick and started prodding me, and only then I woke up with a start, and went and opened the door. To think I was absolutely dead to the whole hungama. I was so embarrassed by this incident.
However, I can understand you trauma, during those few moments, and as you have said negative thoughts have a way of coming and making it more traumatic.
Gosh!! How can we sleep like this… with no awareness about the noises at all!! This must be happening when we are way too tired, I guess!
True, now, we can joke about it or talk about it as a story, but at that moment, it’s a scary time!
Oh God! I can understand what you must have gone through. Glad that your boy was safe. Negative thoughts are the first to come into mind into such situations.
Thanks DC! I was like… Oh God, I don’t want to re-imagine what all thoughts came to my mind last evening!
ditto ditto experience, happened with me 5 years back in my flat. only difference i went to fetch my 10 year old daughter from music class while I left my 8 year old son at home. i came back from the class to bang the door, rang the bell, call from my mobile on landline – all to no avail. My friends called me to join them for a walk and i told them the situation. They handled it from then on.
. I stay on the 5th floor of my building, My friends called the maintenance and the maintenance guys fetched the swing ladder, and from the 6th floor balcony swung into my back balcony, broke the french window and got into the bedroom to find my son blissfully sleeping.He was sleeping in the bed room with Tv switched on and a pillow covering his ears. Those few moments were nightmarish, thanks to my friends who called the maintenance and overlooked the operations. I was like a zombie. Huh….quiet an experience that was.
OMG!! Thank God for the friends and their presence of mind! In such situations, it is so difficult to think straight! 😛
Good God, I can imagine the fright you had!! I have actually done this to my parents when I was around 7 or 8. I fell asleep and didn’t hear them. The had to bust the door open, and wake me up, I was that fast asleep!!
OMG! I believe almost all kids do this to their parents… lock the door from inside and sleep like you are dead to the world! 😀
All is well with that ends well.
One can understand and feel the panic you folks were hauled through those few minutes.
Yes, all is well! Thanks 🙂
Only today, I posted on my blog, a child related anxiety post. Well, my boy is only one, so I have different worries but I can relate to you as a mother. When we were younger, my sis did this and I still remember what my parents went through.
Well, all is well that ends well.
And I call my boy, ‘Nannu’ as well 🙂
Oh cool! Will check your post ASAP. Oh yes, each age has a different set of worries for parents! 😀
You did this too… join the club 😀
Wow, you have a Nannu too! A big hug to Nannu and you! 🙂
Oh! That must have been a scary experience! My sister has locked us all out of the house once in this fashion, though she was much older than Aaryan… she was probably 14 or 15 at that time. She fell asleep on some new pillows that we’d bought a day before (they were extremely comfy) and simply wouldn’t respond to the doorbell. We didn’t even have a landline at our place that time!
Eventually, a neighbor’s servant had to climb up into our 1st floor balcony, and once there, he was able to let us all into the balcony through the back door of our house. (There were 2 doors in that house.) But the door from the balcony into the rooms was also locked from the inside, and it wouldn’t break open! We could only push the bottom corner of the door ever so little, to make a gap through which we could just see her blissfully asleep, surrounded by those new pillows!
Then someone got hold of a long bamboo rod from somewhere and we pushed it through that gap in the door to poke at her feet, which were closest. When she finally woke up, she had a similar bewildered look on her face, as if we all had gone crazy or something! In fact, it took us another minute-or-so of shouting, to make her realize that she needed to get up & open the door for us! She was apparently thinking that the bamboo rod was a part of her dream! Oh and the best part was that once we were all inside the house, she actually had the nerve to tell us that she wasn’t really asleep… that she’d just “closed her eyes for one moment!” Ufffff! She really was crazy back in those days!
Hi Kadambari! Good to see you back!!
Oh you all had a one scary experience too! 😀
LOL @ “She really was crazy back in those days!”… she should see this now! 😀
Haah! I know what she’ll say… “Nonsense!” 😀
LOL 😀
OH boy 🙂 now this is scary, thank god he was fine and just sleeping oblivious to what was happening outside to the world..
You asked the question if this has happened Well let me tell you YES.. Once or sometimes TWICE a week this happens … shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Trade secret this one ..
Bikram’s
Once or twice a week!!!! Now this secret we sure wanna know!! 😀
scary ! Never faced anything like it ! Glad everything turned out to be well in the end
Glad that you never faced anything like this, Ruchira! 🙂
Not a great experience to experience!! 😀
AIyyo!! Thank God none of the worst case scenarios that u were imagining turned true!!! It must have been nightmarish!!!!
As far as something similar happening is concerned, no not happened to me but I inflicted this kind of torture on my family not once but twice…have written about them….
It was!! 😐
LOL, twice??!! Will check out your adventures!! 😀
o my god; all’s well that ends well I guess- but this must have been nerve wrecking experience shilpa. I have inflicted a similar experience on my hubby one or two times but thankfully since I am not a kid he just went back to his car and waited patiently till I woke up 😛
OMG Priya!! Since he knew what you were upto (sleeping that is! :D) so , he must not be worried, I guess! 😀
Good,finally everything is normal.
We have experienced something like this while we lived in Bombay .Our son decided to come back home on is own without taking school bus.
God!! That must be scary too! You must be so worried! Guess, all kids give these panic attacks to parents! 😀
OMG! That should have been so terrible. Thanks to God that things ended well at last! My mom had an incident in her life. My sister was around 1.5 years old and my dad and I was at office and school(L.K.G.) respectively. My mom sang my sister to sleep and went for bathing. She locked the front door and went inside the bathroom. After sometime, she tried opening the door but couldn’t. She got afraid and shouted who it was! It was my sister, she had locked the bathroom from the outside. She didn’t know to open. She locked it somehow. My mom was helpless as the main door was also locked. Panic struck, she started crying hearing my sister crying on the other side and slowly told my sister how to open. After an hour, my sister did it. That should have been the worst terrific moment of hers!
Good Lord!! What a harrowing time your mother must have had and asking a 1.5 year old to follow the instructions must be equally tedious! 😐
Happened with my sister when we were in school. She was in the bathroom and the gases coming out of the geyser couldnt escape through the window and she fainted. We must have knocked for an hour. She was a little conscious but couldnt get up on her own.
We had to break the door, it was a terrible day 🙁
Oh lord! This is the scariest experience that is shared here!! 😐
Oh God Shilpa, after I read the post I kept thinking what you would have gone through while trying to get inside your house. It is a nightmare for any mother. Thankfully, nothing like this has happened, but could have.
About a month back, I stepped out of my home to keep the garbage outside for the cleaning lady to collect. I usually keep one foot on the door, so as to prevent it from closing by wind or something. But I just removed my foot for a second, and the door banged shut. I was stunned for a second or two for what happened! My little baby who was 16 months at that time, was inside. I jumped to my neighbour’s door and just hoped that they would be home. Both of us keep spare keys in each other’s house because with these modern locks such things can happen anytime. Luckily they were home, I snatched the keys and opened the door to find then little one behind the door calmly. Of course, he had banged it shut.
This is a wonderful tip… I liked your idea of keeping a spare key at the neighbors! 🙂
What were your reactions on seeing your baby? 😀 😀
Relief!!! But I did not let myself think anything in between grabbing the keys from my neighbor. I just did not want to think about anything that could have gone wrong. It did not, what’s the point in working yourself up!
I have given this tip to I don’t know how many people already 🙂
Glad that you remained calm and didnt let the scary thoughts trouble you!! A spare key with the neighbours is indeed a wonderful idea for meeting such exigencies! 🙂
My goodness….these kids…thank god, he was safe…a similar incident happened with us, but not the kids luckily…my dear sister who was a SOUND sleeper, once in her high school did a similar thing…we all thought she was studying..after a while, we asked her to open the door and no reply..the same thing..bang bang..bang…finally she opened after an eternity and says, I just closed my eyes…LOL…
LOL at ‘just closed my eyes’!! 😀 Looks like for some time we all do sleep very soundly and just dead to the world!! 😀
Happy it ended well. 🙂
Yeah! 🙂
OMG, Can totally understand the panic you all went through. Glad that everything is alright except door.
Yes, thank God that all was well! 🙂
Oh Gosh! This was really very scary. Hope you are feeling fine now. Yes, kids have put me through some terrible hair-raising experiences :).
Thanks, in my element now! 😉
I guess, it is mandatory for all kids to give the parents these hair-raising experiences!! 😀
phew! that must have been one hell of a scare! kids somehow have it in them to drive us nuts! but i have been on the erring side too…
A child had once rung my doorbell and run off, and i had ventured out to see who it was..forgetting to secure the automatic door lock…and the door banged itself on me! my 7 month old son locked in the house and me outside…he was wailing his lungs out, shaken by the suddenly banging of the door, and i was wailing my lungs out in despair! Ah! the harrowing time i had till the locksmith could be called and a duplicate key got made….ever since i keep a spare key with a neighbour, just in case!
Oh my!! That must be a terribly scary experience!! 😐
I was holding my breath just reading this, Shilpa! Scary to say the least.
We had a terribly scary time! Thank god, all was well! 🙂
Oh God!! How you would have spent those moments!!After reading a few sentences I started shivering and immediately read the last few lines to ascertain whether all was well.God,I felt so relieved that all was well. Then only I read the incident with a relaxed frame of mind Its terrible!!How you would have felt in those interim moments!!! Give a big hug to Aryan.
Awww!! That’s so sweet of you Ma’am! Thank you so much. :))
Whoa! That was real serious… but alls well that ends well 🙂
Thank God, all was well! 🙂
Oh my god! such a scary situation…thank god all was well!
Yeah, thinking about it even today makes me shudder! 😐