Trapped

We met Cody’s friend Isabel and her family for some skating.  Below is a photo of Abigail with the slushy she won for winning the limbo contest yet again.  She says she wins because she is so stretchy.  This sweet girl has been pretty brave ever since she was itty bitty; but the last 2 years she has struggled with some paralyzing fears, things that may seem silly to an adult but very real and significant to her. So you can imagine her fear when she got stuck in a bathroom stall the other day.  My heart went out to her.  A family from our church asked us out to lunch after the church service.  It was a beautiful restaurant and beautiful bathrooms with stall doors that went all the way to the floor.  The door had full length wooden slats and a sliding lock.  As Shawn and I were talking at our booth with our friends, Anna came to me and told me Abby was stuck in the bathroom stall.  I went back there.  Abby was starting to panic as I gave her instructions on how to get out of there.  When her first attempts didn’t work, I could tell she was going to cry.  I cheerfully (trying to keep her calm) told her that she wasn’t really stuck in there because we could always take the door off of the hinges.  However, that would be the last possible resort, but she didn’t need to know that.  I kept talking her through everything trying to remain as positive and upbeat as possible.  I felt a little like a hostage negotiator, ha!  At one point, I actually let her touch my fingers through the slats just to keep her calm.  It brought comfort, and she didn’t seem to want to let go.  She asked me if we could just get someone who works there.  I am sure she was jumping to the last resort and wanted them to take down the door!  It, honestly, felt like we had been in there for so long.  I figured our friends and Shawn had already ordered their meal, but, surprisingly, the waitress never came to take orders during this whole ordeal.  I really never figured out what was trapping Abby in the stall.  She eventually managed to wiggle the lock, and I cheered her on as she freed herself.  Such a scary thing for a child, as those locks oftentimes jam themselves.  I know she will laugh about this later.  Anna says she (Anna) is already laughing about it.  She was with us through the whole thing…gotta love that sister support, ha!  Thankfully, that ended better than it could have, and now Abby will probably have a fear of full length bathroom stall doors!