Always Have an Exit Strategy (and Other Life Lessons)

A post from Josie:

When I was little, I went through a phase where I loved those "Disaster" books. You know the ones..."How to Survive a Plane Crash and 100 other emergencies", "How to Survive Anytime, Anywhere", etc. My family used to tease me because I was always carrying around a huge backpack, and would have the most random things with me when they were needed (toothpick, fingernail clippers, sewing kit, scotch tape).

Unfortunately, I never read a section about "How To Survive a Bouncy House Deflation". I was wholly unprepared today when the bouncy house a friend and I and our two bambinos were in collapsed on us. Luckily, mothering instinct kicked in, and I was able to find the door and scoot the babes out to safety while my (very tall!) friend tried in vain to hold up the ceiling. Let me tell you from experience, those houses collapse in a matter of seconds (literally about three seconds before we were completely trapped and on the ground), and they are really oppressively heavy when they do collapse! Everything worked out fine, though, since we were the only ones in the house and all got out safely. I am so thankful that we were in there with the kids, and didn't let them jump by themselves. I am also glad that it was a quiet day at the center, and the house wasn't filled with five or six kids like it usually is.

Now before you start making jokes about us Mamas being too large for the bounce house (it's rated to 600 lbs, which I assure you we did not exceed!) I will let you know that after a brief investigation, the staff worker determined that the fan's hose had not been attached properly to the house that morning and we were not to blame for the accident. She assured us that another collapse was not imminent; nevertheless, we stuck with basketball and balloon-throwing games for the rest of our time at the sports complex.

And for all you people who teased me as a child, I feel the need to tell you that I have never been happier to know that the key chain in my pocket had a freshly sharpened Swiss army knife on it, just in case we hadn't been able to find the door and we needed an emergency exit. :)