What was I thinking?

This afternoon I was getting dinner ready when I looked out my kitchen window and saw a beat up old truck with a trailer pull next to the curb in front of my house. Two rather shady looking men got out. One of them came up to my door and rang the doorbell. Since I had seen them pull up I told my kids not to answer the door because I didn't know who it was. I had to chase Braden down to keep him from answering the door. We all stood there frozen waiting for them to leave. Instead, the man knocked again and rang the doorbell again. Braden dashed over to the door before I could stop him but didn't open it. I scolded him and told him to get back in the living room. He complied but the man had now seen that we were home because Braden made himself fully visible to the man.

The man continued to ring the doorbell and knock. After about 5 rings and 5 knocks I told the kids to go out in the backyard. At this point, the kids are starting to be a little bothered by it too. I stood by the back door waiting to see if they were ever going to leave. My plan was to run out the back door if they tried to force their way in and take the kids out the back gate.

I kept watching and waiting to see what they were going to do. The longer this went on, the more unnerved I felt. They kept ringing the doorbell and knocking. The last straw came when they pushed the doorbell 5 times in a row .. You know, the kind of thing you do when your brother locks you out of your house. My fear then turned into anger. I couldn't believe that these two men were being as obnoxious as they were about getting me to answer the door.

So, I decided I would go out my back door and through the back gate and talk to them from a distance on the front lawn. I came around the corner and one of the men pointed at the other guy and said "here she is". I stayed about 15 feet from them. The man started to tell me that he was a tree service company and.....I interrupted him and said "I'm not interested and I don't appreciate you ringing my door bell so much. If I had wanted to answer it I would have answered a long time ago." They backed off and turned and went to their truck. I didn't hear what they said but I am sure that I was called some sort of ugly name.

It wasn't until after I walked into the house that I realized that probably wasn't the smartest thing I have ever done. What was I thinking? What if I ticked them off and they decide to come back and harrass me again or worse.....not a real wise reaction. My plan was not to be rude to them but that is what happened.

I was angry that they were messing with me and my kids. I was angry that they wouldn't quit ringing my doorbell. My anger cancelled out my fear....until afterwards when I started thinking about what I had just done....

I honestly don't know what I was thinking when I did that. They were large, stocky, rough looking men. I wouldn't have stood a chance with them.

My explanation, I guess, is that you don't mess with a mother and her children....and when it comes down to it, I would fight off anyone I had to to keep my kids safe. And...sometimes, I make foolish choices when I let my anger drive my actions.....

I talked with my neighbor afterwards about it and we decided to get my alarm system functioning. Next time, I'll hit the panic button on my alarm and watch them run for cover....ha!