Today I’ve been helping out on a school trip to our local South Norwood Country Park and very nice it was too. We went exploring, plant spotting and bug hunting … oh, and I got locked in the toilets…

When we arrived at the Country Park we were shown into a classroom by the Park Warden and given the opportunity to go to the loo before we went for an explore around the park. I must admit I was dithering as I was trying to persuade my group of four boys to go to loo. After all the persuading, which came to nothing, I did end up being the last person to go into the toilets.

Picture thanks to Charlie Baker @ Flickr.com

Last one or not, imagine my horror when, on coming out of the main toilet door, I was faced with a metal wall. Ugh? That wasn’t there when I went in, I thought. So I gave it a bit of a rattle, nothing. Then a knock. Nothing. Minutes started to pass. Then followed some polite ‘hellos’ and then eventually, another couple of minutes later a really loud ‘HELP!’ Seeing as the entire class, teacher and Park Warden were deep in conversation about the days activities they didn’t notice that I was missing. I’m glad to report they’d counted that all the kids were present but hadn’t thought they needed to check the adults!

Eventually I was rescued by a Mum who had heard my cries for help. She’d seen me go into the loo but didn’t know it had been locked after me, she even thought I’d been a long time but put it down to an upset tummy! She’s only heard my cries when she went into the kitchen to get a drink. Needless to say I was a little red faced and het-up when I came back into the class (I had started to feel a bit claustrophic as well as a complete numpty!)

What made me snigger was that Noah hadn’t even noticed I was missing. The Mum he’d been so desperate to come on the school trip had been locked up the outdoor loos and he hadn’t missed me a jot! Furthermore, it reminded me of the time when he was crawling when he locked me in our garden.

Yes, another embarrassing ‘locked out’ moment came when I was heavily pregnant with Ferne. I had popped out into our garden to hang out the washing when Noah somehow managed to slip the bolt across the bottom of the door, locking me out in our garden. Not only was I distressed as I was trapped outside but he, at fifteen-months, was trapped inside.

Oh, I forgot to mention, I was also only wearing a nightdress. Not a sexy number but a very unattractive huge T-shirt with a massive bump sticking out the front – all in all it was a bit of a shocker. Desperate for help I tried to lean over fences to see if neighbours were in but no, nobody was home. The only option I was left with was to call through a gap in an alleyway gate to anybody walking past. Ridiculous. The first man, was hesitant to lend me his mobile, not only did I look very odd he was convinced I was trying to steal his phone. The second knight in shining armour was an 80-year-old man who ran around the street yelling ‘there’s a lady in distress’ – to which nobody did anything!

Fortunately, like today, somebody eventually rescued me. That time my parents turned up on their weekly visit and looked through our front window only to see me looking in through the back window mouthing ‘HELP’. It is now a bit of a classic moment which we like to wind Noah up about. Now I can add getting locked in the loo on the school trip to my repertoire!

Have you been locked out? Forgotten by your kids? Or worse, are you still locked somewhere?… Send me a message and I’ll try to work out how to get you out!

Michelle