TexasCHLforum.com

Yesterday around 5:15 I was in the kitchen making dinner, the boys were out in the backyard, and the toddler was nearby in the living room. Suddenly I thought I heard the tail end of the big garage door opening (it was hard to say for sure because I also had a steamer and a bread maker going, which sort of drown out other low-frequency noises). The cats ran toward the garage door like they do when someone is coming in. My husband normally gets home around 6, and he always calls to tell me he's on his way. Especially if he's early or late, because he knows I have a gun. ;) I took a few steps closer to the door and thought I could hear something on the other side. Then the doorknob. A second later, my husband came through the door to the sight of me with my hand on my gun. I hadn't actually drawn yet because I was still thinking through the possibilities (Did one of the boys go into the garage to get something when I wasn't looking? Did I miss the call from my husband?), but in retrospect I was pleased that when caught off guard I had more or less the response I might have hoped for.

Turns out he'd left work early to pick up some movie tickets we wanted for this weekend and traffic was really light, and he just didn't call with the extra stop in there. He said that's the last time he'll fail to call. ;)

that's good it was just your hubby coming home early! I test my wife every now and then when she doesn't want to go in academy or something and waits in the truck. I'll try and sneak up on just to keep her on her toes. she hasn't failed yet and it makes me feel great!

Ultra_Solo_Sig_0904 wrote:that's good it was just your hubby coming home early! I test my wife every now and then when she doesn't want to go in academy or something and waits in the truck. I'll try and sneak up on just to keep her on her toes. she hasn't failed yet and it makes me feel great!

Be careful... one of the instructors I've learned from says that doing that can actually be bad for her defensive mechanisms because she's expecting the person sneaking up on her to be you and will be less likely to react appropriately when/if it's the real thing. He was specifically talking about a woman who said her husband would never let her know when he was coming home at unexpected times, which meant that if she heard noises in the middle of the night when he was working late she had to wonder if it was him or an intruder as she tried to decide what defensive measures to take. The husband was trying to help her stay alert, but it really had the opposite effect: she was scared to get out a gun and be prepared for an intruder because she was afraid she would mistakenly shoot her husband.

My husband is usually really good about calling first, and he even knows that if he works late and plans to get home around 1 or 2 a.m. he should still call and wake me up to say he's on his way because at that hour if I hear someone moving in the house and I don't know it's him, I'm preparing to defend myself and my children. Much better a phone call than that adrenalin rush. ;)

Thanks for that advice, i should've said when I test her every now and then that it's not very often (once or twice a year) and it's never at home.

I'm glad to hear your spidey senses kicked in and you reacted as you had hoped. I am also impressed that you had a firearm on your person while at home. So many people go into condition white when they are at their house (inside or out) and don't have even quick access to a firearm, much less one on their person. Good job!!

Another +1 on the sneaking being a possible bad idea. I come home at weird hours, too, due to work schedule, and I make -certain- to make noise if I think the Lady is asleep. I don't want to wind up looking down the wrong end of a Kimber if I sneak up on her at 3 AM...

Or a shotgun. Or whatever else might be beside the bed.

Coming home late (actually 6 hours early) when my wife and youngest daughter were gone, I was fumbling with the lock in the dark. I opened the door to find my other daughter partially concealed behind the wardrobe (coats) with the .357 in low ready, her booger hook alongside of the frame. I calmly spoke her name and she let out her breath.

I was VERY proud. She was alert enough to wake up, get the gun and seek a "covered" position. I was also extremely pleased with her gun handling, safe but ready.

Glad it worked out OK. It sounds to me like you made all the right moves. I 100% agree with you on your policy of calling. My daughter and SIL have the same policy.... for the exact same reasons as you.

I kind of thought it must be him, or somehow one of the boys slipped past me into the garage, because 5 p.m. seems like an odd time to burglarize a house by opening the garage door in plain view from the street when that's the time all of the neighbors are getting home from work. Also, there are usually a bunch of neighborhood kids playing football in the street out front, and they would make for inconvenient witnesses. I've always figured the sliding glass back door for our weak spot.

I do always keep the gun on me even at home -- it goes in the holster when I get dressed in the morning and stays there all day. I would hate for someone to break into the house during the day thinking no one is home (I park in the garage) and have things turn violent when they find me and three small children. We don't keep a lot of valuables around (just not that kind of people) so I could also see things getting ugly if they wanted me to tell them where the good stuff was. Hiding or escaping are not good options when you have three little ones. Even assuming you can gather them up quickly, it just doesn't work. And I'm not about to leave my kids with a burglar while I go running for the gun safe!

My oldest daughter came home late one night (was supposed to have been home by midnight) well after her agreed upon return time. The dogs started barking when the garage door went up and she came in she was looking down the barrel of a 1911.

That was 2 years ago and she hasn't done it since.

RPBrown wrote:My oldest daughter came home late one night (was supposed to have been home by midnight) well after her agreed upon return time. The dogs started barking when the garage door went up and she came in she was looking down the barrel of a 1911.

That was 2 years ago and she hasn't done it since.

Wow! It has been awhile since my daughter was young and living with me but I am thinking I usually just grounded her if she came in late. I never thought about doing it your way.

03Lightningrocks wrote:

RPBrown wrote:My oldest daughter came home late one night (was supposed to have been home by midnight) well after her agreed upon return time. The dogs started barking when the garage door went up and she came in she was looking down the barrel of a 1911.

That was 2 years ago and she hasn't done it since.

Wow! It has been awhile since my daughter was young and living with me but I am thinking I usually just grounded her if she came in late. I never thought about doing it your way.

Yes but she is not young. (42 but you didn't hear that from me ) Kids are like boom-a-rangs, you throw them out and they keep coming back. Seriously her husband left her a couple of years ago and she came to live with us. She re-learned the rules of the house in a hurry.

RPBrown wrote:<SNIP>
Kids are like boom-a-rangs, you throw them out and they keep coming back.
<SNIP>

What a ridiculous statement. I have thrown dozens of boomerangs and not one came back.

Thanks for the discussion. It got us talking about what ifs

Dragonfighter wrote:

RPBrown wrote:<SNIP>
Kids are like boom-a-rangs, you throw them out and they keep coming back.
<SNIP>

What a ridiculous statement. I have thrown dozens of boomerangs and not one came back.