It was 8am.
I was laying in bed sleeping (I have an upstairs room facing the backyard) and I am awakened to talking that sounds like my child outside. Surely, not my child because I hadn’t heard her wake up, she hadn’t come in our room, hadn’t turned on the TV downstairs, nothing. I am not a heavy sleeper by any means. Her door opening would have usually triggered me.
I listened again.
Then I knew I heard her for sure and it was coming from outside. I got up and looked outside through the blinds and she was standing on the pool ladder, on the top, in her pajamas.
I have never flown more fast out of my bed and downstairs. As I rounded the backdoor, she was coming inside. I wanted to yell at her and I couldn’t it was so scary.
I told her that she couldn’t ever ever go outside alone (that was the first thing) and never get in the pool without us. We talked to her about this when we first got it too.
She said “I was just touching it”. In her mind, she was not getting in the pool, she was just ‘touching the water’ and coming back inside. She was still minding what we told her. I never thought how literal she would take what we told her. At 4 years old, she doesn’t comprehend that she can still fall in, hit her head, and die. Or get her leg caught in the ladder and fall face forward and drown.
My DH was telling her there are things in life you cant control. Its not always about what your intentions are.
My heart is still racing.
Really, what if…
~Trisha
UPDATED ON JULyY 3rd
We got door alarms. 
omgomgomgomgomg! I can only imagine how you must have felt.
It reminds me of when B was like 2 and somehow opened our garage door, took out her little 4 wheeler and cruised the neighborhood at 6am. Scary…I’m glad you got to her in time.
Dawn
So scary, glad all is okay. I am sending the virtual Miss Clairol for your new batch of gray hairs. Parenting, not just a job, an Adventure. Big ((Hugs))
Oh my god…how scary! Thank god she didn’t fall in…and that you heard her. My parents have an in-ground pool and with all the little kids in the family, I always get so nervous someone will fall in.
I’m so glad everything worked out OK. But please take a minute to be sure it doesn’t happen again. All outside doors should have child locks added well above where a child can reach. Please, please, install them immediately. The thought of a four year old being able to go outside alone is truly frighting.
My husband is a fire fighter, so perhaps I know too well all the ways kids can harm themselves, but 15 minutes of prevention can save a baby’s life. The cost is under $20.
As for the pool, if you can’t remove the ladder, do something to make it impossible for children to climb up when you’re not around. Your pool can attract neighbor kids who can drown as just as easily. Can you imagine living with that? I can’t.
In our state it’s illegal to have a pool, above or in-ground, that’s accessible.
So glad she’s fine.
Connie
My 4 year old did that a friends house also, so scary. Luckily he took the time to strip naked and I caught him before he jumped in.
That is so scary! I am so glad she was not harmed! Thank God!
I would also caution you NOT to add a pool cover. Those are so dangerous. Kids fall into the cover and it wraps them up under water so they can’t get free.
These are the door alarms we used and they worked GREAT. http://www.asseenontv.com/prod-pages/first_alert_alarm_system.html
omg thankd goodness she is okay though! That is very scary, i hope that she is okay and understands that it can be very dangerous ! Maybe you should infest in one of those door censors so that if she does go out side again it will alarm you that someone is going out that door ! You could just set it on at night time
I would be freaking out still too, I am so glad she is ok.
That is totally scary. Thank god you woke up when you did, mommy instinct? My hubs really wants a pool, but I have always been afraid for our kids safety.
Thanks for sharing this. It is a great lesson in how to talk to kids and that we need to remember to be mindful of how they see the world.
Hugs to you! What an awful way to wake up!
Those door alarms are a great idea!
That’s incredibly scary!
So glad she didn’t go INTO the pool.
YIKES!!! Time for a door alarm that leads out to the pool or a cover…or both! Glad she is ok and you woke up on time to catch it all. Whew! I need a drink after reading that.
That is terrifying. I live in Miami, Fl. and drowning is the number one cause of death (in Fl.) for kids under 9 (I think under 9). So it has always been one of my biggest fears since we are surrounded by water whether it be pools, lakes, canals, etc. There have been times where it was a daily occurrence on the news.
Thank goodness you heard her and nothing happened!!!!
OH MY GOSH I WOULD HAVE FREAKED, maybe its time for alarms on the door so you know when someone is coming in or going out!
OMG I stopped breathing just reading this. How scary! I’d be getting some of those alarm thingies too. They are cheap and will alert you when the door opens. Scary!!!
OMGosh! Thank goodness you heard her and she is okay.
Oh my God!! That is so scary, thank God you heard her though. I think I would have had a heart attack too.
This is really scary and could have turned out so much worse.
Charlotte is about the same age as Mattison was when we put those cheap little door alarms on the front/back door. The “as seen on tv” type. He had a habit of going outside when he would wake up before us.
OMG! I would have freaked too. It seems impossible to teach my son about the possibility of things going wrong.
We’ve also thought about putting a dead bolt up high on the door so the kids can’t reach it, but then what if they do need to get out of the house in an emergency? :\
I’m glad Charlotte is okay!!
How scary!
That is one of those moments where you pray with thanks that you woke up when you did and then contemplate moving into a padded room (not the looney kind but the safe, protected kind).
Abby has been climbing on things lately. Pulling her toys over to the counter and using them to climb up there. In one corner of the counter we have our knives in a wooden block. I have no idea where to put them now and it scares me to no end so I don’t leave her alone even for a second.
I don’t know how parents survive this kind of stuff.