Drills

I was watching Heroes when the alarm went off, so for the first minute or so I didn't really notice it; I just assumed that it was part of the background of the show. When I finally clued in that then noise wasn't coming form the tv, it took me a couple of minutes to figure out what it could be. When I first moved here to the eighth floor, just days before the Zen Baby was born, I worried about what I would do in case of a fire. Visions of huddling on the balcony, waiting for the ladder truck competed with thoughts of wrangling Diva Girl and a newborn down 8 flights of stairs. But in the nearly three years we've lived here, the only alarms I've heard have been easily traced to my penchant for forgetting about whatever I have going on the stove, and I've grown complacent; it took me a few minutes to realize that what I was hearing was the building fire alarm.

It was nearly ten o'clock at night. Roughly minus ten degrees outside. We were all in our jammies, and Diva Girl had long since been put to bed. The door wasn't warm when I felt it, and there wasn't any smoke in the hallway. Still, there was no question of what to do next.

This may come as a shock to you, but Diva Girl isn't always the best listener. Lately it's become the norm that I need to tell her something several times before she follows instructions. She's got her own ideas and has no problem with sticking to her guns when she thinks she's right. She's also often pokey at the exact moment that I need her to move quickly, caught up in her own daydreams and oblivious to what is going on. She likes to be helpful, but quite often her idea of what would be helpful are at odds with what I really need, and just end up complicating things. Rousted from her bed by the fire bell, however, my difficult, dawdliing Diva rose to the challenge beautifully.

She didn't balk at being routed from her (new loft) bed. She didn't take her time doing the snowpant dance or embark on an endless mitten hunt. Rather than offer endless suggestions or run around in a blind panic gathering up her most beloved possessions, she stood by calmly while I got her sister dressed for the cold, following each instruction as given. I anticipated an argument over using the elevator, but she headed straight for the stairs; she even stopped to feel the fire door before entering the stairwell.

I was amazed by how grown up she seemed as we fled our home. Her Blankie, Squeaky Baby, and even the cat (don't ask about the fish) had been left behind to an uncertain fate, but instead of the wailing and gnashing of teeth I expected, Diva Girl was calm and focussed. The tears came later, after she was reunited with her toys.

It turned out to be a short in the wiring, not a fire, but it was a sobering experience, seeing fire truck after fire truck pull up. I was pretty sure it was a just a false alarm--although there's a thin line between denial and certainty--but watching more firemen than I could count pour into our building, I pulled my children a little closer and said a quick prayer of thanks that we were outside shivering and not inside, trapped behind a wall of flame. I was relieved that our home wasn't going up in smoke, but I was also reassured by the fact that even if it had, we would have been ok. We not only knew the right thing to do, we did it.

There's been a lot of replaying the scenario and whatifing the possible outcomes in the past couple of days. Now that she's had time to think about it, Sabrina has taken a mental inventory is worried about all the things she could have lost. I keep praising her for her actions and reminding her that stuff can replaced, but she and her sister could never be. I think she gets it, but she's also finding comfort in leaving Squeaky Baby by the door, the better to grab in case of evacuation. And me? I'm looking into renter's insurance. Because even though that stuff can be replaced, paying for it all? Easier said than done.

Comments

Way to go Diva Girl! its amazing what they are capable of when you need them. How did zen baby handle it? Make sure you put the new items on as agreed value so that you are able to replace them, insurance companies are sneaky and they depreciate things so much that you end up with not enough to buy everything back

I live in a single story house, so really struggle with the difficulty of living so far off the earth! Well done guys.

Great job Diva Girl! Kids always seem to understand when not to push it.

Please get a cat carrier should there be a next time! I am a cat lover and can't stand the thought of one being left behind. This goes for the two I have - even with a (barely over) one year old.

Ok, full disclosure here: I didn't even think of the cat until Diva Girl told a fireman that her kitty was still upstairs. Never even crossed my mind. And much though I love Nyx, The Ladies were my priority. If it's between tracking the kitten down and forcing her into a carrier and getting my children safely outside as alarms are ringing and I'm trying to decide if that smell is smoke or just my imagination, I'm taking The Ladies and leaving the cat behind.

Not that I didn't feel guilty about forgetting the cat. Well, until the (very cute) fireman I was talking to told me that that was the right choice--that he's seen a few tragedies occur due to concern over the family pet.

Frankly, I'm just hoping never to do that again. But I'm still calling around for insurance, just in case.

Yeah, I might kick out a window for the cat myself (not being an 8th floor inhabitant), but I can't argue with your prioritization there--definitely the Ladies before all. Sounds like a scary evening, glad everything turned out okay.

Well done mum =)

Renters insurance is a really good idea-just make sure you keep a list of what you own, which can be hard, but comes in handy. We always had renters insurance, because like you said, while everything can be replaced, we can't always afford to, especially with kids. It's usually pretty cheap insurance anyway.

Glad all turned out for the best.

I've just been catching up with you once again.

What brave girls you have.